Tempest
by Hobbikiin
Summary: Life in Konoha City is hard and almost no one likes 17 year-old delinquent Naruto Uzumaki. Until he slowly discovers he has powers far greater than any human should have. With these new abilities in hand, he knows he has only one choice: Save Konoha City and protect the world he has. Modern AU, SuperHero. Rated T, but some M.
1. Episode 1: Enter Naruto Uzumaki!

**Before anything else, let's address the elephant in the room:**

 **Yes I haven't updated Naruto, Squad 7 Captain. I probably won't for a while. At the moment, I'm a very busy adult trying to adult and doing too many adult things. That being said, yes I overworked myself hard this last year.**

 **This is a story I've had budding in my head for quite some time. I've taken this to paper twice before and I didn't like the outcome, but I'm aiming for a third time. This is actually the fourth draft now. It's been a difficult story that I want to get and interpret in a way that I approve of.**

 **For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

 **So you all know, this chapter might seem like I'm bashing characters like Sakura or Ino, but I'm not. Just know that.**

* * *

 _ **ena:ena**_

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 1: Enter Naruto Uzumaki!**

* * *

"Hey guys, c'mon! I already gave you all the yen I had yesterday!" A boy gulped as he held his hands up in defense. In front of him, two black haired kids were glowering down at him. One with green eyes and spiker hair got closer, causing the troubled teen to flinch as he placed his arm on the stone wall behind him. He looked at his arm near his head before looking back into the angered eyes of his bully.

"You see, I have a strong feeling you're lying to me." In a fluid motion, the bully's other hand grabbed the boy's collar, making him gag and raising him a few inches. "I would very much advise _against_ lying to me, brat." The boy let out a gulp and started to chuckle nervously.

"I-I think I have some money in my backpack." He whimpered out, making the man smile and drop the boy with a squeak.

"Smart kid," he turned to his bowl-haired buddy. "Check the kids bag, Jun." The other boy nodded before rummaging through the boy's backpack. The boy looked at his bag being invaded and attempted to stand up before he felt a foot slam down on his unkempt black hair. Struggling, he was able to lift his head enough to see the teen smirking, his foot on his head and his hands in his pockets.

"What do you think you are doing? You're just trash, you got that?" He chuckled darkly as his buddy, Jun returned to him.

"Kid was holding out. Still had 1,000 yen on him." With a small laugh, the bully turned back to look down at the boy.

"Now Konohamaru… You know Takeshi doesn't like when you hold back money from me." Takeshi said as he frowned down at the boy. "You're practically begging to get hit now." By now, Konohamaru was trying his best to hold a strong face, but he could feel the tears welling in his eyes.

"I didn't mean it Takeshi. I really-"

"Shut up, crybaby." Konohamaru yelped and held to his words as Takeshi hissed at him. "Just looking at your whiny little face pisses me off!" Takeshi lift his foot up from Konohamaru's head, rearing it back to slam into his face. Before he could react, a hand grabbed Takeshi's sole of his foot, making him lose balance and fall over on his back. In the confusion, Jun looked to his fallen friend before turning to look at Konohamaru, a fist blocking his field of vision. From the ground, Takeshi growled out.

"You bastard… Naruto." As he glared at the blonde figure above him, Jun felt down on top of him. He scrambled to get his buddy off of him. As he pushed the unconscious Jun off of him, he looked up to see a quick fist followed by darkness. From the floor, Konohamaru quickly scrabbled up.

"Naruto! I didn't need any help!" Standing in front of the boy, a blonde man in a white short sleeve dress shirt turned to him.

"Oh shut up Konohamaru. You know I was gonna help anyway!" Konohamaru rolled his eyes before moving past the blond towards the two unconscious bullies. "Dude, he had 5,000 yen in his pockets! Score!" Naruto let out a small smirk as Konohamaru took back his money before a loud voice echoed throughout the courtyard they were in.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Both boys turned towards the voice, Naruto already groaning at seeing the person.

"Oh great. King of the turds himself is here." Walking up angrily, a man with long black hair that was kept in a ponytail walked up. He was dressed in similar attire as Naruto, except he wore a black suit and looked much more professional than the scraggly dressed blonde.

"Fighting on school campus again? You must have some nerve to always be doing this!" The man said sternly, as if we were scolding the boy in the politest manner. Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Hey, I wasn't the one that started it this time! They were bullying Konohamaru and gonna beat his ass, so I just returned the favor!" He let out a smirk as the man scoffed before scrunching the bridge of his nose.

"All I saw was you beating on Jumichika and Toryaga. You know I can't believe you. You both are pathological liars that only want to not get caught." Konohamaru chuckled at his assessment. He personally wouldn't label them as pathological liars, but that is what the school saw them as. If the shoe fit, he always thought.

"Well, I mean no one wants to get in trouble Mr. Hyuuga, but it's for real! Naruto was protecting to me from these jerks!" Naruto relaxed a little and gestured a thumb to the 10th grader behind him.

"You heard the kid Neji. All I was doing was protectively beating some ass. You know how that is, right?" Neji let out a low growl at the disrespect Naruto used to address him. With a sigh, he regained his composure and took a neutral stance.

"Be that as it may, I am still the Student Council President and I cannot stand for such antics like this to go on in my school." In a dramatic fashion, Neji turned away from Naruto, his voice lowering. "Mr. Uzumaki, you will report to detention later today. No club activities. I want you to go straight to Mr. Sarutobi's classroom as soon as the day ends. Do I make myself clear?" He turned back to Naruto, only to see him and Konohamaru crouching, using their hands to talk for Neji, both snickering like children, making the elder student turn red in anger.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME, YOU DUMBASS?" Both Naruto and Konohamaru recoiled from the screeching sound of the president, causing Naruto to fall onto his backside.

"Oi oi, I heard you, calm down!" He shouted out, waving off the president, infuriating him further.

"2 hours! Got it?" Before getting a response, the president walked off, anger radiating from his body. In the courtyard still, Naruto turned back to Konohamaru as soon as Neji was inside the school building.

"What a turd, amirite?" He snickered a little, making Konohamaru laugh in agreement. Without warning, he hopped up from the floor, his hands behind his head now as he walked back to the building. Konohamaru gulped and scrambled to catch up to the ever quick walking blonde.

"Hey, slow down! You're such a fast walker!" Naruto made a confused sound and looked back to see the black-haired boy catching up to him, seemingly running in a slight jogged pace.

"Keep up slowbro." He let out a chuckle as, Konohamaru steamed, adjusting his running walk pace to match Naruto's walk.

"I'm not slow! You're just stupidly fast! Probably from being so stupid and lame!" Naruto let out a small 'hmph.'

"Probably. Or maybe I just got places to go. You'll never know." Konohamaru rolled his eyes at Naruto's failure to be wise. Try as he could, Naruto would never be wise. There was no doubt in Konohamaru's mind about that.

"Well, at least you got dad as your detention advisor. He knows how much you look out for me. Would be a lot worse if you got Ms. Yuhi." At the mention of her name, both boys stopped in their tracks. They both shuddered at the thought of spending two extra hours of the day with Kurenai Yuhi, the schools fitness instructor. Not only was she super passionate about fitness and health, she had a stern belief that every man in the world is nothing but a pervert. It didn't help that she has caught Naruto and Konohamaru peeping before, forming a very strong bond of hatred from the teacher to them.

"Yeah, thank God about that. Kurenai would probably make me stay all night and force me to super scrub and clean the gym." He mentally groaned at the thought, losing his color as Konohamaru chuckled.

"Well, who knows. Dad doesn't wanna be here all night, so he might even let you leave early." Naruto smiled before turning towards the boy, with them now standing in front of the classroom of 2-A.

"That's good. Neither do I. Get to class brat. We're both late now." Looking surprised, Konohamaru looked at a nearby clock in the whole. After a brief pause, he shouted in surprise.

"AAAAAAHHHHH! MR. EBISU IS GONNA KILL ME!" He shouted, scrambling down the hall, leaving a trail of dust and wind in front of the confused blonde. Standing there, Naruto had a deadpan look on his face.

"Why is he so dramatic?" As Naruto pondered this question, the door to his homeroom slammed open. With an audible 'huh', Naruto turned to see the face of a very angry woman standing in front of the doorway. After a few seconds of silence, Naruto realized his mistakes as his face morphed to one of extreme panic.

"Wait wait wait, it's not what it looks like! I didn't mean to be late. I'm so sorry Ms. Kato!" Naruto begged out as the older woman grabbed his ear, making him exclaim in pain. Shizune Kato dragged Naruto into the classroom, his cries of pain drowning out the constant snicker of all his classmates. Like Naruto, they all wore the same outfit; guys wearing black slacks with a belt, as well as a short white sleeve buttoned-up shirt, while the girls mostly wore black skirts, with white buttoned up short sleeves. His teacher wore a long black skirt that cut off below her knees, as well as a long sleeve white buttoned up shirt with a black vest over it. On her face, she was wearing an expression of rage. In a motion quicker than any high school teacher should be able to move, she released Naruto's ear, placed both her hands on his shoulders and began to shake him senseless.

"Why does it seem you are always skipping my class? Do you just enjoy staying after class Mr. Uzumaki?" She spat out, practically fuming from the ears. In her hands, Naruto went limp, tears in his face as he was still being shaken back and forth.

"So…So sorry Ms. Kato…." He muttered, his soul already leaving his body.

* * *

"I expect to see all your essays tomorrow morning. I hope you all aren't planning on starting it tonight! I'm talking to you especially, Mr. Inuzuka" She let out a small laugh, making several of the male students blush, as well as make the named student look away with his cheeks rosy. Shizune was relatively young compared to some of the teachers, only being 23, with her closest senior being Kurenai at 25. Because of her young age, she had a joy toying with certain students that she knew had a schoolboy crush on her. She mostly used it to make sure they were actually learning material, in foolish hopes to one day impress her. As she collected her files, she noticed a certain blonde teenager, facedown on his desk. With a sigh, she straightened out her papers.

"I'm assuming it was Konohamaru again, wasn't it?"

"Takeshi and Jun. Those assholes tried to take his money." His voice muffled as it was still against the wooden desk. Shizune let out another sigh, rising from her desk.

"I don't understand why they still choose to punish you. It's clear to see that your pretty much the only one keeping the underclassman safe. That stupid student council president," her face tilted downwards in thought. She knew exactly why they always punished him. As far as this school was concerned, Naruto Uzumaki was nothing but a delinquent that got into Konoha High by pure luck. Granted, he wasn't the smartest student they had, but that didn't mean he didn't always try his hardest. She let out a small growl at her thoughts before hearing the scratching of a chair going backwards against tile. She looked up to see Naruto rising from his seat, a smile on his face.

"It's all good Sissy! I'm perfectly fine with getting detention if it means that those little guys ain't getting picked on." Shizune smiled at Naruto's proclamation before his words registered in her brain.

"Hey, don't call me that here brat! You know damn well to call me Ms. Kato" She growled, smacking the top of his head making, him yelp in pain. After a few seconds of nursing his bruises, he looked back at Shizune before, tilting his head in confusion.

"Hey, how tall are you sis?" Her angered face morphed back to her normal one as she looked up in thought, her thumb on her lip.

"I'm around 5'6". Why?" He grinned, jumping up close to his teacher, making her take a step back from shock.

"Looks like I'm catching up on you!" He gestured above him, showing off the fact he was now 5'5". He smirked as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over the papers in her hands.

"Took you long enough shorty. Now get to your detention before you get in trouble. I'm heading to the teachers lounge and I want to lock up the room." Naruto nodded, grabbing his bag and heading out the door, waving goodbye to his teacher. As he left she let out another sigh, grabbing the keys to the classroom. As long as she could remember, her family had always been friends with the Uzumaki's. She remembered meeting the obnoxious blonde 6 year old when she was 12. He was an annoying little kid, but always put his heart into everything, and it sort of stuck with her. He was always willing to do anything for her and treated her like his big sister, so the role kind of stuck. This was her first year teaching at the prestigious Konoha High School that Naruto was attending and she made him swear to not tell anyone about their relationship, fearing it might make the other teachers and students judge her, more than they already did. Being a young teacher really came with a lot of handicaps. She really wished she wasn't as hard as she was on him, but she couldn't let her students see any weakness from her. She was a recent college graduate, and she had to earn her respect throughout the school.

* * *

Naruto was groaning. Despite his enthusiastic exclamation to Shizune, he was utterly tired of staying after school in detention. He had gotten detention so much, his mother had gotten to the point of not expecting him home until after 7 pm. On occasion, some days he wasn't home until 11, based on the amount of trouble he found himself in that day. As he walked down the hall, he barely noticed a shadowy figure step out in the hallway.

"Hey, I can see you. Quit trying to be all mysterious." He heard a small chuckle and watched as Jun and Takeshi stepped from the shadows, making Naruto groan. "Great. It's you two. What do you want?" Takeshi let out another growl, cracking his knuckles in the process.

"What do you think, idiot? We don't take to kindly to being snuck up on and getting sucker punched. Just thought someone like you would be better than doing that to people." Behind him, Jun slammed his fist into the other, making Naruto roll his eyes and give them a toothy grin.

"Sorry, it just happens when your face is so punchable, you know? I just can't help it." Jun let out a growl and took a step forward before Takeshi stopped him, placing a hand on his chest.

"Calm down here Jun. You really think Naruto is stupid enough to try and fight both of us? Even he's not that stupid." Naruto shrugged, crossing his arms and looking towards the ceiling in thought.

"I dunno. I'm not huge on taking on weaklings, but I'll gladly take out some jerks that want to step up." Takeshi frowned, releasing his hand from Jun's chest.

"So be it, brat." Jun immediately went forward, ready to strike Naruto. Quickly, Naruto's form changed from his passive mocking stance to one ready for combat, both fists in the air and aimed at the large man. Ready to fight, he barely heard the yell behind him. In a swift motion, he turned, unready for the fist inches from his face.

"Shit!" He shouted out, getting hit and knocking him towards Jun, who wrapped his arms around his waist, using his momentum to slam the blonde to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. From the ground, he looked up to see Takeshi and Jun, alongside another kid with black hair and one with brown hair, all grinning mischievously.

"No sucker punching, huh?" Naruto was able to cough out, his breath returning to him a little bit. Takeshi let out a shrug, looking down at the blonde.

"I never said we were above it, did I?" He snapped his fingers, causing the other 3 boys to start kicking down at Naruto, who curved himself into a ball to avoid most of the damage. He let out several grunts of pain as they continued kicking before he heard a shout.

"Out of my way!" All the bullies looked up, as well as Naruto peeking out of his defensive ball to see a backpack fly into one the bullies faces. Almost instantly, a blur of a person flew forward, it's knee connecting with the face of the brown haired kid. Jun and Takeshi let out a gasp as the kid fell next to Naruto, falling unconscious. In the moment of confusion, the black haired man threw off the backpack, shaking his head. As he collected his bearings, the blur was on him instantly, throwing two punches to the stomach. He keeled over from the pain, unable to see the third punch connecting with the side of his face, rendering him unconscious instantly. With an annoyed grunt, the blur turned his attention to the final two bullies as the boy next to him slump to the floor like a sack of rocks. Naruto uncurled himself and rose shakily, a grin on his bruised and beaten face. Near the hallway walls, Takeshi clenched his fists in anger, Jun doing the same next to him.

"Sasuke Uchiha… What the hell are you doing here?" He asked through gritted teeth. Sasuke stared down the two boys, his face looking apathetic.

"I'm here taking out the trash." Takeshi narrowed his eyes, his fists shaking. He wanted to go after Sasuke badly, but he had better self-control then that. Despite being the most popular student at Konoha High School, Sasuke knew how to handle himself in fights. Most of his fights were always saving Naruto, as no one wanted to go against him, with him being one of the sons of Fugaku Uchiha, the CEO of Uchiha Corp.

"Get out of the way Sasuke! This doesn't concern you at all." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the disrespect Jun threw towards him. He took a step forward, angering Jun. In an instant, Jun yelled out, rushing to throw a punch at Sasuke. "Bastard!" As he swung, Sasuke was able to grab Jun's fist, guiding the fist away from him and pulling him closer. As he fell forward, Sasuke sent an elbow forward towards his face, knocking Jun down with a distinct cracking noise. Before the boy could fall, he quickly sidestepped the now unconscious Jun. Takeshi felt his legs shake slightly as he watched Jun fall.

"Whatever! You win Uchiha Sasuke! I'm out of here!" He quickly ran away, with neither Naruto nor Sasuke willing to catch him. Naruto let out a small chuckle while Sasuke 'Hnn'ed.

"Thanks for the save Sasuke. They decided to sneak up on me." Sasuke shrugged before walking over to get his backpack.

"Learn to defend yourself idiot." Naruto pouted his lip before turning away from him with his arms crossed.

"There were 4 guys! Even you wouldn't be able to stop them had you not suprised them! No one could have!" Sasuke let out a rare chuckle, and shook his head.

"Yeah sure thing. Let's go Naruto. Let's get some ramen or something." Naruto instantly turned to the raven-haired boy, joy on his face, making Sasuke laugh slightly. Despite being super popular and the center of attention, it wasn't what Sasuke wanted. He'd rather blend into the shadows and just be a normal person, but due to his popularity, he was who everyone wanted to either be or be with. He hated how everyone kissed up to him. Naruto had been there since they were little and never cared about Sasuke's high status, which is why Sasuke actually liked the blonde. Naruto treated him like a person and that's why he was able to share his rare smiling moments with him. With all his popularity, he still considered Naruto his one true best friend, and didn't care what people said about him.

"I would love to get some ramen. Need some after those ass whoopings I just dealt, you feel me?" He blew on his knuckles and shook them, as if to say he just beat them all. Sasuke let out a chuckle before starting to walk down the hall.

"Yeah totally. Let's get moving."

* * *

"Thanks for the meal!" Naruto shouted, his hands clapped together as the steaming ramen was placed in front of him and Sasuke. Their waitress let out a small giggle at Naruto.

"Enjoy your meal you two. If you need anything, you know where to find me!" She bowed slightly before sending a genuine smile to Naruto, who gave her his biggest smile, making her giggle before walking away.

"Let's dig in!" He snapped his chopsticks and quickly dug in, slurping noodles quickly, making his friend shake his head.

"She was so into you, and then you act so mannerless." He took his chopsticks and started slurping quietly, making Naruto turn to him in confusion.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Ayame?" He pointed a thumb to the server, who happened to be looking at him as he pointed at the brown haired waitress that had just served them, startling her. Sasuke let out his sly smirk once again.

"Well, so much for not letting her know you're talking about her." He tilted his head slightly before looking towards the ramen line, seeing her looking directly at him. He quickly turned beet red and looked down at his bowl, his hand back on the side of his bowl.

"Aw crap, now she's gonna hate me. Ichiraku is my favorite place too! Damn, now I need a new place to eat, oh man." Sasuke looked towards the waitress who couldn't help but laugh at the blonde's embarrassed look.

"Yeah, something tells me you won't have to worry about that." He muttered, slurping up some more noodles. He looked back to his side to see Naruto still looking red with his face in his bowl. "Calm down. She's not going to hate you. Never really pictured you as the freak-out type when it comes to girls. That is, if you even like girls." He felt the jolt of Naruto's uneasiness set in as Sasuke's mouth twitched upward, his trademark smirk on its way. Naruto shot up from his ramen bowl, a shade redder before and glaring at the boy.

"Oh HA HA! I've had no interest in being with anyone and you know that!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, swallowing the line of noodles in his chopsticks.

"We both know that's a blatant line. You just like an asshole." His voice was quiet now. He knew Naruto was going to flip at his words, but he didn't care. Sasuke would never stop trying to get Naruto to give up on his unhealthy crush.

"Excuse you, but Ms. Sakura Haruno is not an asshole. Maybe you're just the asshole, Sasuke." He stated through a smirk, taking another slurp of noodles. It bothered Sasuke that he referred to Sakura with her full name. Essentially, she was the only person he ever talked formally to, including their teachers and headmaster.

"I'm just saying. You know she's an Uchiha fangirl. And she's been nothing but rude and mean to you." _Then again, who_ isn't _a jerk to you, Naruto,_ Sasuke thought, sipping his noodles as he toned out Naruto's long winded and obnoxious defenses for Sakura.

As long as they had been friends, Naruto always seemed to find and bring out the worst in people. It felt as if most people that met him were always angry or hated him in some way. It never made sense to Sasuke how people just had some innate hatred for his best friend, who was actually a very good person. Everyone knew that he was a savior of sorts to all the underclassman, as his past as a huge prankster allows him to move around the school quietly and save the victims of the upperclassman. Despite the many times he had saved people from getting beaten or their money stolen, everyone overlooked it. This wasn't the first time they had joined up to try and beat Naruto, which is why Sasuke always liked to stay at school a little late. No matter what, he always had his friends back.

"-So yeah, I think that all adds up to a really cool person! Right? Hey, are you even listening to me, Sasuke?" Sasuke snapped out of his train of thought as Naruto was inches from his face, glaring at him. Sasuke growled and pushed the blonde away, his hand on his face.

"Too close, you idiot!" He hissed out, pushing Naruto back to his side of the table, causing his chair to tilt slightly. As it bounced back and forth, Naruto glared back at the raven-haired boy.

"I could have DIED!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, lifting his bowl to drink the broth. On the other side, Naruto placed his chopsticks on the table, looking outside. "It's getting late. Doesn't the Uchiha Prince have to get home?" Placing his bowl down, Sasuke looked at his watch.

"Yeah, it's already 8. I guess we spent more time at school than we meant to. You got the bill, right?" Sasuke smirked and was already up and halfway to the door by the time his words hit Naruto, who was in the middle of drinking the broth in his ramen.

"Huh!?"

* * *

"Grummy cheap Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled, pocketing his wallet and grumbling. He looked up and placed his hands in his pockets, walking in a grumpy fashion. Luckily for him, Ichiraku Ramen was near his house and was on the route from school to home. Opening the door, he could hear the television blasting some action drama. Closing the door behind him, he wore a scowl. In front of him, a redheaded woman was slouched on the couch, her long hair covering her face and chest and snoring loudly. She was wearing blue sweatpants and a large green shirt with a giant Konoha logo on it. He looked from her to the TV, which was blasting loud.

"She's such a deep sleeper…" He muttered, flipping the TV off before grabbing a blanket. "I guess she was waiting up for me, heh." He smiled as he covered her, making sure she didn't get too cold. After a few seconds, her snoring stopped and she shuffled into a more comfortable position, a smile on her face.

He walked into the kitchen to see a pot of ramen boiled and ready for whenever he had gotten home, making him smile. His mom knew him too well.

"Thanks for the food." He said quietly, careful not to walk his mother, as if his shouting would even wake up that rock. He slowly began to dig into his ramen with a smile. Ichiraku was one the best ramen shops he had ever been to, but it had nothing compared to his mothers cooking. She was a whiz with anything culinary, but her ramen was easily top tier. He had no doubt she could win cooking competitions with just ramen alone. He always joked that if she ever found herself laid off from her job as a fire fighter, she should be a cook at Ichiraku.

After his meal, he carefully left enough ramen to fill up 3 more bowls, as his mother would get angry if he left her any less, and he began to clean the pot and all the messes he made. After a few minutes of cleaning and placing things into their dishwasher, he turned the lights off and headed towards the living room. He let out a smile and gave his mother one last good night before turning the lights off and heading towards his room down the hall, hopefully to get a good nights sleep.

* * *

"You don't look good at all. Nice shiner by the way." She stated, referencing the bruises on Naruto's face. She knew her son was involved in lots of fights. It hurt her to see Naruto with bruises, but she also knew she had to not make them a big deal and to let him deal with them.

In the doorway to their kitchen, Naruto was standing, all color drained from his face. Inside the kitchen, his mother was chuckling, drinking a fairly large glass of tea while sitting at the table. "When did you even get home?" He shuffled in, slamming his body into the other chair around the table, his head slumping down.

"Like 9:30. It wasn't even late. Why am I so tired all the time?" He let out a sigh, raising his head to look at her. "I thought you people were supposed to be strong." She rolled her eyes, taking another drink.

"My family isn't really a 'you people' you know that, right? And it doesn't matter. Maybe you got your fathers weak genes. He was always bad at walking up early." With another load groan, Naruto slammed his face back into the table.

"Dad sucked." He hissed out, earning another laugh from his mother.

"Be that as it may, I have to get to work," she glanced over towards the clock. "And it looks like you're going to be late for school… Again." In an instant, Naruto hopped up, looking at the clock in the kitchen before exclaiming loudly.

"Oh crap! Sissy is gonna kill me! Love ya! Bye, Mom!" Naruto shouted out in one breathe, rushing out of the house in a gust of wind, making his mom shake her head.

"Always such a weird one, Naruto."

* * *

"You are lucky I don't make you stand outside all class!" Shizune shouted at the whimpering Naruto. Because of his comments yesterday, she now noticed the size difference between them and was slightly irked that she couldn't literally look down at him anymore.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Kato." He bowed to her, apologizing profusely. She let out a sigh, facepalming slightly. She supposed she could let him off easy, seeing as he was only late by 10 minutes.

"It was only 10 minutes, so I guess we can just ignore it this-" Before Shizune could finish, the door to class 2-A slid open, revealing a well-dressed face with 2 pale angry looking eyes glaring at the blond in front of him.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Neji's voice boomed, making several students gulp. It didn't matter where they were, the Student Council President Neji Hyuuga let out an intimidating aura that frankly scared most students. They wouldn't dare cross him ever, but then again, most students weren't Naruto. While bowing, Naruto turned his head to the left, able to make out Neji's face from his peripherals.

"What is it now, Neji?" Shizune frowned at Naruto's disrespect, but she had also expected it. As long as she had known him, he only showed very few people the respect they deserved. Everyone else was dude or just their first name. Neji's brow visible furrowed disapprovingly at Naruto's demeanor, but it was quickly erased by a calm exterior.

"It has come to my attention that you seemed to have skipped detention with Mr. Sarutobi last night." Naruto's skin visibly paled as Neji started to drown on about the integrity the students have and how their word is their bond.

 _Oh crap! I totally forgot about that stupid detention after Takeshi jumped me! Maybe… Maybe he will believe me about them jumping me and let me off the hook! I know he will believe Sasuke,_ as Naruto thought about his options, he turned his head slowly to match Sasuke's monotonous gaze. Almost instantly, Sasuke shook his head, making the blond growl slightly. _You bastard!_ He hated it. But he knew Sasuke was right. They wouldn't believe that Sasuke fought and if they did, he would get in trouble as well, and while Neji Hyuuga certainly didn't care about Sasuke getting in trouble, the fire the school would get for an Uchiha getting in trouble wasn't worth it to anyone.

"Do I make myself clear, Naruto Uzumaki?" Collecting himself from his thoughts, Naruto heard the tail end of Neji's speech, confusing him greatly.

"Huh?" Naruto's head titled slightly, as if a giant question mark was over his head. Shizune let out a sigh in annoyance at her pseudo-brothers response, as Neji visibly grit his teeth in anger.

 _Does it physically hurt you to pay attention sometimes?_ She thought to herself while Neji readjusted his composure.

"I said you will be with Ms. Yuhi's from after school until 10 pm. She will sign a paper saying you can leave at that time." Naruto gulped out, pulling at his collar slightly.

"T-this is such an inconvenience for Ms. Yuhi though! She wants to go home too, you know! She doesn't want to just be at the school all the time." Neji smirked slightly, crossing his arms.

"Actually, I made sure. She has a lot of things to do to prepare for some school activity's coming up. You're going to help her set up for all those activity's all night. She is incredibly grateful for the giant workload you are taking off her shoulders." Naruto let out one last gulp before finally hanging his head in defeat. After all this, he had to admit that he lost to Neji.

"Okay, sure thing Mr. Hyuuga. Ms. Yuhi's class at 3:30 until 10. I will be there." Naruto's voice sounded defeated, which was music to the president's ears. He took a quick bow to Shizune.

"Sorry for interrupting your class time Ms. Kato. Carry on." With that, Neji was gone and the only sound in the classroom was the sound of the door sliding shut. After what seemed like a few silent minutes, Shizune sighed and pointed to the chairs. She felt like all she was doing was sighing these days.

"Just go sit down, Naruto" With his head hanging in defeat, Naruto slowly trudged to his seat in the back of the class.

* * *

"You're late." The intimating red eyes of Kurenai Yuhi pierced through Naruto the second he had stepped into the office of the school's fitness teacher. Unlike the other teachers at Konoha High School, Kurenai wore a plain white t-shirt, with a dark blue track jacket over it, as well as super black tights that went to her knees. No matter the situation, Kurenai was always in outfits that granted her the most mobility. Looking at the clock, Naruto noticed it red that the time was only 3:33.

"But, Ms. Yuhi, It's only three after. I did have to walk all the way across campus to get her." He was careful to use his formal speech, in hopes that if he was proper, she wouldn't be as harsh to him as she could be. She crossed her arms and glared at him from her office chair, making him gulp.

 _Oh crap, I hope she is gonna be gentle…_

"3:30 means 3:30, Naruto. Another slip up like that and I'm sure I could find more stuff that need cleaning around this school. Might take another hour or so too." She smirked slightly. Say what you want, you could tell she personally enjoyed making Naruto's life a hell.

 _Oh damn, she's going in rough!_ He exclaimed, tears falling down his mental images face like waterfalls.

"You're right. I'm really sorry about that, Ms. Yuhi. W-won't happen again." He stuttered out, making her roll her eyes and rise from her chair angrily.

"Let's cut the crap. I know you're a delinquent and you know that too. So let's cut all this chatter and just get straight to work. Are we on the same page?" Rather than argue, Naruto knew the wise choice would be to simply agree with everything she says, no matter how untrue they were. Receiving a nod from the blond, she smirked slightly.

"Good. Now basketball season is approaching. I'm going to need that basketball court nice and clean. All waxed up. I'm sure you know exactly where all that stuff is, right?" Naruto let out a small gulp. It was gonna be a long night.

* * *

"I swear that woman is a freakin' slave driver!" Naruto exclaimed to himself, lazily walking down the darkened streets of Konoha City at 11 pm. In the end, Kurenai had pretty much made sure Naruto made anything that had to do with physical sports look as if it was brand new. Not only were his muscles aching from all the labor, but his brain was already shut off and ready for the next day to begin.

"This is the worst experience I have ever had with that woman! I swear she just wants to make sure my life is the freaking worst ever!" He continued to grumble to himself silently as he walked next to the dark shopping district of town. Walking down the district, he saw the familiar Ichiraku Ramen, lights off and already closed. Because ramen wasn't exactly the most profitable business, the shop was further away from the shopping district, slightly isolated. As he got closer, he noticed there was a light in the back of the restaurant still on.

"That's weird…" He thought to himself, taking a few steps towards the window, allowing him to see the dark shop there, lightly lit by the faint glow. Naruto had gone to this shop since the day it had opened, over 15 years ago, and he had never once seen Teuchi, the owner, keep anyone past 10:30. He looked towards the door and noticed that it had been left slightly ajar.

"I'm sure Teuchi is just finishing up work, that's all. But still…" He pursed his lips, edging himself towards the door. "I'm sure Teuchi will forgive me if it's nothing, but it's better to check it out." He gently pushed the door open, entering the dark and quiet restaurant. Crouching a bit, Naruto stealthily moved through, heading towards the dim light in the kitchen.

The silence was almost deafening in the usually loud kitchen. Everything was clean, so it was obvious they had already closed up for the day. Upon closer inspection, he saw a few pots and pans still in the dishwashers sink. It was suspicious, but he had to make his way to the office. The office was open by a few inches, light escaping from the room.

He opened the door with a slight creak. The room was incredibly messy, papers strewn about the floor and desk, file cabinets crashed to the floor. Despite all the calamity in the room, it was the center of the room that drew all of Naruto's attention.

"Teuchi?" In the center of the room, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi Ichiraku, was laying on a file cabinet. His face was bruised and bloody, as if his skull was cracked open. Ignoring his stealthy approach, Naruto immediately ran to the restaurateur.

"Teuchi! Oh my God, what happened?" He nudged the man, getting no response. It was obvious the old man was already unconscious. He gulped before reaching for his cell phone, quickly dialing 119. He stood in the office, his heart rate escalating with the ring back tone.

"119, what is your emergency?" A calm woman's voice answered the phone, allowing Naruto to calm down slightly.

"Uh, yes hello. I'm N-Naruto Uzumaki. I'm at Ichiraku Ramen and the owner is here with me, bruised and bleeding. I don't know what to do. The door was open and the lights were on." He stammered out, looking at Teuchi, pacing around the room.

"Okay sir. Would you be able to- "She stopped abruptly, startling Naruto. Moving the phone from his ear, he looked at it to see the battery icon flashing red.

"Shit! Really? The perfect time. God damn detention!" He growled out, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "They should be on their way still. I should stay here for them." He remarked to himself, looking around the messy room before hearing a bang hit the wall. He quickly looked over towards a second door in the office; one leading to the backend of the restaurant.

His stealth back, he slowly crept to the back end of the office, making sure not to mess with anything around him, in fear that it would potentially tamper with the evidence. The back door was a fairly solid metal door that matched the white brick walls of the office. He gently placed his hand on the door, opening it slowly.

The alleyway was dark, a faint light from the restaurant lighting it up. Stepping out slightly, all Naruto could make out was a dumpster, as well as a small garage like area, which he only assumed was for deliveries. Closing the door slowly, he snuck through the alley towards the garage, where the sound came from. Against the wall, Naruto scooted towards it until he was able to make out some quiet voices.

"Quit squirming around, I swear to God!" It was a faint angry whisper, but Naruto could barely make the words out. Gulping, he inched forward, trying to get some vision on the scene. In a crouch, he was able to look into the garage, his eyes widening.

In front of him, a masked man was holding the neck of Ayame, the brown haired waitress that had served him and Sasuke the day previous. Her arms were missing from view, but from the angle she was at, Naruto could easily tell that her hands were tied. Near her neck, Naruto could make out a faint glint of steel. Turning away from the image, Naruto stuck to the wall, his breathing intensifying.

"Was that a knife? No way. Ichiraku is getting robbed. He's the one that hurt Teuchi… He reasoned with himself a little more before finding the courage to look back into the garage. His eyes widened as much as they humanly could. Inside, he could clearly see the thick watery tears of Ayame's coat her cheeks. She was in trouble. And all he was doing was sitting here, getting scared for himself. What an asshole.

With no hesitation, Naruto moved from the corner, rushing into the dark garage.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" Suddenly, both the mugger and Ayame's eyes turned to Naruto. All the attention was on him and, frankly, it made him incredibly nervous. He would have to play this super well to make sure Ayame wasn't hurt. The masked man turned to Naruto. From this close distance, he definitely could see the knife pressed against Ayame's throat.

"Listen to me. Buzz off brat. This doesn't even remotely concern you." Just like that, the robber's attention was back onto Ayame, completely dismissing Naruto. He grit his teeth and took a step forward, glaring back at side of the robbers head.

"Well, you have a knife to a girls throat, so yeah it does concern me just a bit." The man let out a sigh, looking down to the ground, as if to contemplate a thought. After what seemed like a few minutes, he turned back towards Naruto.

"Listen kid. One more step and I'm going to make you really regret coming in here. Understand?" As if to act defiant, Naruto took a small step forward. The man breathed in before chuckling.

"I warned you, dumbass." In a fluid motion, the masked man pulled out a handgun from his jacket with his free hand. Naruto quickly froze in fear, his eyes looking down the barrel of a gun and his hands now in the air. Next to the gunman, Ayame started to shake, more tears flowing down her face.

"H-hey, let's j-just take it easy, a-alright?" Naruto stammered out, staring at the gun, making the man laugh.

"All that bravado, gone in an instant. I told you not to butt in kid. Now get out of her before I decorate this garage with your fucking brain." He turned his head back to Ayame, a smirk on his face. "Now run along." Naruto grit his teeth, anger on his face.

 _This is stupid! I don't want to get shot, but I just can't let this jerkwad hurt Ayame! What do I do? How do I solve this? I don't know what to do. Shit!_ Naruto was lost in his thought as the mugger growled back at him.

"Did you hear me, brat? I said get fucking lost!" He shouted out at Naruto with a booming voice. In that same instant, Ayame let out a scream, slamming her side into the mugger, making him lose his balance. Moving without thinking, Naruto shifted forward and swung his fist towards the man, hitting him in the face, causing the man to fall to the ground, as well as drop the gun.

"Son of a bitch!" The man exclaimed, already picking himself up. Thinking quickly, Naruto bolted towards the gun the man had dropped. Clasping the cold metal weapon, he was able to get the gun and take aim at the man, but the mugger was faster. Before he could fully aim down the sights, the man had already risen and dived at Naruto, getting his hands on the gun and pointing it upwards, not letting Naruto fire at the man. In the corner of the garage, Ayame was hidden in the darkness, watching in horror, half of her wanting to run away to her father's side, while the other side wanted to help Naruto fight the mad man.

After an intense power struggle, Naruto could feel the other man start to gain the upper hand. In an instant, the gun slipped from is hands, back into the muggers and Naruto felt a hard blunt attack from the butt of the gun, causing him to fall back on his behind, eyes shut in pain. With a deranged cackle, the mugger aimed at him.

"That was good try, but I win. Now you get to watch as I kill your little friend." He looked to the corner with a deranged smile, his mask now off, thanks to the fight. Slowly, he inched towards Ayame, who was frozen in fear.

"I'll teach you both to mess with the Mizuki Gang!" He grabbed ahold of Ayame bound arms, making the tears come back. She was still frozen, unsure of what to do. Ichiraku's most well-known patron came to save her, but here he laid before her, bruised and beaten. She was glad someone had come. It had given her hope in her situation. But as quickly as the hope had come, it had faded as she was back in the crazed man's arms, the cold steel pressed against her temple.

"P-p-please d-don't…" She whimpered out, only making the man smile wider.

"I was supposed to only hurt you and your father, but now… I'm sure Mizuki will understand. Nothing quite like a dead daughter to get your piece of shit father to start paying his dues!" He shouted out, cocking the gun. She gulped and shut her eyes, unable to look. From the floor, Naruto let out a scowl and start to rush towards the man, hoping to be faster than his finger.

"NO!" BANG

It all happened so quickly. Naruto was glad to see that Ayame was unharmed. Realizing that, he looked down towards himself, feeling immense pain in his heart. His shirt was painted red, a thick liquid oozing out of the left side of his chest. He looked back up to see the gun facing him, a small hint of smoke coming from the barrel.

"Shouldn't have moved brat." He smirked at him, pulling the gun closer and making it face upwards with a bent arm. The liquid coppery taste suddenly overtook his mouth, making him gag. He coughed out the red liquid on the floor, still in disbelief at the blood dripping from his mouth.

 _I… I can't move. My body isn't listening to me… Am. Am I gonna die?_ He thought to himself, trying to desperately move his body. With a thump, he fell to his back, blood still oozing out of the wound. He couldn't do anything. His vision started to go black around the edges. He was stuck at an angle that give him a perfect view of the man and Ayame, her face drenched with dried up tears.

 _N-no…_ He tried to move to no avail. No matter what, his body refused to listen. His hear had started to ring, drowning out all other sounds. He couldn't hear them, but he could still see them. He had forced Ayame to her knees, a sadistic grin on his face.

 _No…_ He felt a twitch, but he couldn't have been sure if it was his dying brain playing tricks on him. Tears were forming in her eyes again. She looked Naruto in the eyes, a lone tear sliding down her cheek as the man placed the gun behind her head.

No. No, this isn't the end. He can't let it end like this. He _couldn't_ let it end like this. He won't let Ayame be hurt. He refused to let this man win. A surge of strength hit Naruto, as if all his pain disappeared. In an instant, he felt strength flow into him and he jumped up, a fierce glare in his eyes.

"How in the actual hell are you still alive?" The man moved his gun from the back of Ayame's head towards Naruto, who was now standing, his right arm covering the bullet hole on his left side. His entire school attire was drenched crimson, but he still stood his ground.

"Can't… Let you… Hurt her." He wheezed out, making the man roll his eyes.

"You're just pathetic now. Die already!" He shouted, his patience hitting an all-time high. In the same moment, Naruto felt the world slow. The sound of the gun firing echoed slowly in his head, giving him the perfect amount of reaction time. With his free hand, he held it up, open palmed towards the gun, the bullet stopping in midair.

"What the… You sick freak!" He let out a few more shots, them all stopping halfway between him and Naruto. Outside the garage, the wind picked up, roaring now against the former silence. With a fire in his eyes, he looked down towards Ayame.

"Duck!" As soon as the words left his lips, Ayame plunged down, her chin smacking against the concrete flooring. At the same time, the wind spiked higher, speeding up with Naruto's yell.

"Hiyaaaaaa!" The wind, as well as the bullets in midair all made a sharp whistle before turning against the man, whose eyes widened in fear. In an instant, he was made mercy to elements. With a deafening howl, the wind slammed into the man, pulling him off his feet and into the air. He flew several feet before slamming into the wall leading to the main restaurant, the cement cracking behind him. Naruto took a step forward, pushing his hand further, making the wind speed up and push against the man more.

"You fuc-" He attempted to shout over the wind, but Naruto made one final push, making the wind push harder and breaking the wall, sending him flying into restaurant floor. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground. Breathing heavily, Naruto lowered his hand, making the wind stop. He felt his hand go limp and couldn't move it anymore. His vision was fading fast, but he was able to turn towards Ayame, a smile forming at the edge of his lips.

"Are you okay, Ayame?" Before he could hear an answer, he felt the darkness take over his mind, causing him to topple forward into a puddle of his own blood.

"Naruto?" The still bound Ayame rushed to her saviors side, trying to help him as much as she could. Unsure what to do, she heart the faint sound of police sirens near the restaurant, them steadily getting louder. With only one thought left, she put all her remaining strength into her throat.

"HELP!"

* * *

 **Alright, how's that for an intro chapter? Literally took me 5 tries and a few MONTHS to get it right. I'm in a grove now, so it won't be that bad the next few updates. I'm clocking in this chapter at 9,000 words, so I'm going to try and set that or a little more as the standard for this story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed. Leave a comment or favorite and let me know what you liked or didn't like.**

 **Episode 2 out soon.**


	2. Episode 2: I Will Be A Hero!

**This little section is for comments for me to address:**

* * *

 **WindyCItySlayer1: Yes.**

 **Drakon45: Maybe I will.**

 **RaphDaSwordsman: Thanks. I try. Oh my God, do I try. I try all the time. In this institution.**

 **Missy: Only because you said please.**

* * *

 **Yeah, it's been a bit since last episode, but I'm trying my best. Life is taking its toll on me. Two jobs and work online as well as writing and school. Being in your 20's sucks. Enjoy being teens, my friends.**

 **For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 2: I Will Be A Hero!**

* * *

"Where am I?" All around Naruto was pure darkness. After a few seconds, his eyes began to adjust, revealing the familiar interior of the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant.

"Ichiraku? What am I doing here?" He took a few steps, looking between all the booths and keeping a keen eye out. There was a faint light lit in the kitchen.

"This feels very familiar…" He continued to stalk through the restaurant, ignoring his feeling of déjà vu. He walked through the kitchen, the light coming from the office. Seeing the light sparked his memory, causing him to rush into the office.

"Teuchi?" He burst in the office, the door slamming against the wall. Just like before, the owner was laying against the floor, his body bruised and bloody. Knowing what was going to happen, he dashed out the back door, towards the open garage. Zooming through the alley, he reached the garage and peered in quickly.

BANG!

He arrived just in time to see the scene as it went down. Ayame was in the masked man's arms, his gun pointed forward. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked down, seeing himself before him, the red ooze already leaking from his chest. It felt different watching it, rather than experiencing it. Like before, Naruto stumbled back a little, a puddle of blood forming at his feet. He watched in horror as he noticed his past self start to die in front of him.

"Shouldn't have moved, brat" He looked over at the man, smirking with his gun in the air. He grew angry at the man before he heard a thump, only to see his past self fall to his back, blood splurting out like a fountain. The scene was gruesome. All the blood and pain on his past self's face was almost too much to bear. He had to step out of the garage, gagging slightly. In the sky, he could feel heat everywhere. Looking up, a white light start to shine around him. All around him the wind started to pick up. He turned back towards the garage to see himself. Holding his wound and pushing the wind against the masked man.

As the wind picked up, the white light began to intensify, blinding Naruto. In an instant, the brightness overtook everything and it all fell silent. After what seemed like hours in the bright silence, he heard a faint yell come towards him.

"HE'S AWAKE!"

* * *

"I always hated hospitals." A woman with short black hair that fell to the edge of her face on both sides, wrapped in a spiky ponytail stepped out of the driver side of a black Nissan, a scowl on her face. "It reeks of death and sadness, and who wants that in their life?" On the other side of the car, a man with slicked back black hair tied up in a man bun behind his head shrugged.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most people don't really want to be in the hospital." She gave the man a dirty look, her eyes partly covered by her bangs. He had already smirked at her, knowing she was going to give him that look.

"Yeah yeah well, my point still stands. Let's just hurry up and get the information we need." She shut the door, already walking towards the hospital. From the passenger's side, the man rushed forward to catch up with her.

"You know, you could have waited a little, Anko." He grumbled, hands in his pockets. They both wore the same gray suit, Anko's more form fitting then the mans. Around their necks, they both wore police badges. The only difference in their outfits was that Anko wore a long, light brown trench coat over her suit.

"Crime doesn't wait my young Iruka. Everyone knows that villainy is afoot!" She shouted in a voice that would be linked to a superhero in some comic book, making Iruka shake his head. This was one of the finest detectives in all of Konoha City.

* * *

"Alright, alright, please give the young man some space!" A nurse walked into room 305 with a scowl on her face. From the doorway she saw the young injured blonde, looking deadly tired, with a group of people all near his bed. Directly in front of his bed, Kushina Uzumaki sat, large bags under her eyes. On the right side of his bed, the brown haired girl Ayame Ichiraku rested, a smile on her face thanks to Naruto's revival. On the opposite side, his homeroom teacher, Shizune Kato, sat with a worried expression on her face. Away from them all, Sasuke Uchiha leaned against the window, looking out.

"I can see you're fairly popular, Mr. Uzumaki." She muttered out, giving a side glance to all his attendants. "Even though you can only have two guests at a time…" She sighed, walking over next to Ayame. "Although, I suppose it is okay, because of what you went through." Sensing the friction, Shizune nodded.

"I have to get back to school and start preparing a next week's lesson plan anyway. Please keep me updated, Kushina?" The mom nodded to the teacher with a smile, making Shizune smile and rise from her seat. "Feel better Naruto. I'll be back soon!" She left the room in a hurry, not wanting to upset Naruto's caretakers. Almost instantly, Ayame rose next to the nurse, a nervous smile on her face.

"I should probably head out too. Need to check on my dad and all that jazz." She stated awkwardly, unsure what to do fully. She had just met Naruto's family when they were all admitted into the hospital, and she was still unsure how to act around them. Unlike the mugger, who was identified as a man named Hisayoshi Miki, and Naruto, Ayame was mostly left untouched. Her only issues were bruises against her neck and arms, which were thoroughly wrapped with bandages. Before she could turn to leave, she felt a soft hand gently touch her wrist, careful not to agitate her wounds. She turned to see the redheaded women giving her a kind smile.

"Don't be a stranger, alright?" Ayame returned the smile and nodded, turning to leave the room. At this moment, Naruto finally felt fit enough to talk. He had barely woken up a few hours beforehand, but the doctors had given him medicine almost immediately, effectively drugging him to the point of being dazed and confused.

"Wait. Lesson plan? How long have I been out?" He looked to his mom, barely registering that Ayame and Shizune had both left his side.

"Don't worry about it honey. You've been in the hospital a little over a week. The school knows what happened and are being very understanding about your position, so don't worry about falling behind in your classwork." Naruto let out a soft chuckle, placing his head back on his pillow.

"Yeah. That's what I'm worried about. Oh, hi nurse!" He muttered out, a dopey smile on his face. He hoped she had come to bring him more medicine. He was starting to come down and the pain was just setting back in.

"Hey there Naruto. I'm Nurse Saito, and I've been watching over you this last week. Now, normally I would give you some more medicine for the pain, but I need you fairly sober for right now." He let out a frown, making her chuckle slightly. "Only for a little bit, don't worry." He sighed a little, relaxing in the bed.

"Alright, that's okay, but why aren't we drugging me up?"

"Because we have questions and I can't jot down information from a drugged-up victim. You know how it is." His attention was turned to the doorway, where a spikey-haired woman was standing, a smirk on her face.

"Who are you?" He asked, bewildered. She simply shrugged and walked into the room, hands on her hips.

"Some call me a space cowboy. Some call me the gangster of love. Hell, some of them even call me Maurice." Kushina rolled her eyes at her introduction, obviously knowing exactly who this was. Naruto stared at the woman blankly before a man with a spikey man bun walked in behind her, an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry about her. She gets a little eccentric from time to time." She let out a small blush, glaring back at the man behind her. Nurse Saito let out a sigh, gesturing to the pair standing near the door.

"Naruto, I'd like you to meet Detective Anko Mitarashi and Junior Detective Iruka Umino." He looked back to the pair, only to see Anko with her hand extended towards Naruto.

"Pleasure to meet you, kid. We are here to investigate what transpired there at Ichiraku Ramen a week ago." Iruka nodded behind her, pulling out a notepad.

"Why are two homicide detectives investigating something with no deaths?" The sudden sound of Sasuke's voice startled Naruto, as well as everyone else in the room besides Anko. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the familiar Uchiha boy. Iruka sent a small glance to Anko. He had been wondering the same thing, yet she hadn't told him why they were there either.

"It's called police business and as far as I checked, I'm not Shisui, so you're not getting anything from me." Her signature smirk returned, only making Sasuke glare more. Sasuke was considered royalty in Konoha City, and as much as he didn't let it get to him, he still did expect to get either respect or fear from the masses. Anko wasn't a similar case. Ever since she entered the KCPD alongside his cousin, Shisui Uchiha, Anko had always been one with lots of initiative and promise. He never really had an issue with the police department, but something about Anko always set him off whenever he saw his cousin. Evidently, she saw the same thing in the young Uchiha boy, as she always had a hostile behavior towards him.

"I'll see you at school. Later, Naruto." Almost instantly, the boy rose up and made a beeline for the door. Iruka was going to stop the boy before seeing the shaking head of Anko; instead letting Sasuke leave.

"Alright, so basically we want to get the story straight about what happened that night. It's good your mom is here too. I think you've noticed from me that I tend to be slightly unorthodox, so I want you to tell me if anything I say or do to your son bothers you and I'll stop immediately, agreed?" Naruto tilted his head slightly. First she was cracking jokes and being hostile towards his friend, and now she was like a prim and proper detective. She was making no sense to him.

"That's good. I agree to those terms. Thank you, detective." Anko nodded to Kushina, giving her the thumbs up before plopping in Ayame's old chair. With a small gesture, Iruka followed her lead and sat in Shizune's old chair. Next to Anko, Saito nodded and smiled.

"I'll be at the nurses station if you need me. Relax and just remember Naruto." He smiled back to the old lady before she vanished with the sound of a door closing. Now it was just Naruto, his mother and these two detectives. After what felt like hours of silence, Anko started up her questioning.

"So let's take it from the top. Why were you at Ichiraku Ramen at 11:15 p.m.?" She leaned forward in her chair, staring intently at Naruto. He gulped a little from her intense look and barely noticed Iruka pull out a small notepad.

"Okay, well… I had detention with one of my teachers, Ms. Yuhi. It was, uh, a fighting thing and I had to stay after." Iruka wrote down a few notes as Naruto's words registered with him. "Wait, I mean it was self-defense! I'm not some delinquent that just gets into fights or anything like that!" Anko rolled her eyes, leaning back in the chair.

"Yeah yeah, we got that. Just keep telling us what happened please." She seemed very professional now, making Naruto a little nervous. He wasn't sure why, but he preferred the joking and light-mannered Anko.

"Well, I left detention with Ms. Yuhi around 11, I think. It was a difficult detention. Punishment and all that. You know what I mean." He realized he was rambling and continued his story. "Anyway, Ichiraku was on my way home. I was walking by and I noticed a light on in the kitchen. The door was open, so, naturally I was curious." His voice softened slightly, remembering the sight. "I went into the back office and… And I saw old man Teuchi … He was beaten pretty badly."

"You saw Teuchi Ichiraku beaten? And at this point, you called the police?" He nodded to Anko's questions.

"Yeah. I called the police and my phone died. I heard a noise and I went out the back door. I went into the delivery truck area and there I saw Ayame and that masked guy holding her." Naruto paused, so the only audible thing in the room was the sound of pen to paper. He noticed Anko and his mother were listening intently, while Iruka's eyes were down on his notepad.

"That masked man. He was identified as Hisayoshi Miki, a member of the notorious Mizuki Gang. Did you know about any of this prior to seeing him?" Anko straightened her back, a finger placed on her chin.

"Well, I mean, I know about the Mizuki Gang; they're a group of thugs that think they own the city. But no. I didn't know this guy was part of them. As far as I knew, he was just some random mugger. Anyway, I saw he had a knife and I knew I couldn't wait for the police, so I confronted him." She shot a side glance towards Iruka, who nodded quickly. Luckily for them, Naruto didn't catch the look, but Kushina did.

"Okay, so you confront Hisayoshi after seeing him holding Ayame hostage?"

"Yeah. I went and we talked for a little bit. Then he pulled out a gun. After this point, it starts to get a little hazy." He remembered it clearly. He just wasn't sure how to bring up the fact that he had somehow commanded wind in order to save himself and Ayame.

"That's fine, given the circumstances. Just tell us what you remember." He sighed, sitting up straight in the bed.

"Uh. There was a loud bang. It felt like I was poked really hard in my chest and I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I fell to my knees and it felt like my entire body was burning. The last thing I remember was Ayame," he clenched his fist in slight anger. "Ayame was crying and I felt my face hit the floor. And I blacked out and woke up here." He pursed his lips, discontented with his own actions, wishing he could have done more.

"And that's all that you remember?" He nodded back to Anko, who let out a single hmm. Behind her, Iruka pocketed his notebook and looked at Naruto with a gentle smile.

"Thank you for talking to us, Mr. Uzumaki. I'm sure that was hard on you and we really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us." Anko concurred, rising from her chair.

"I think we have a clearer picture now of what happened. If we have any more questions, we can find you here, right?" Anko smirked, gesturing to the gauze and wrap on his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah I think I'll be here for a little bit." He chuckled, reaching for Anko's hand, shaking both of their hands. "I'll be more than happy to be there for you guys." With that, the two detectives walked out of the room, leaving Naruto and his mother to their peace. In the hall, Iruka and Anko walked side by side.

"So what do you think about Mr. Uzumaki's story?" Anko placed her hands in her trench coats pockets, pursing her lips in her thoughts.

"He's hiding something, but I don't know how vital to the case it is. Probably will find out more once we interview him for a second time." She stated, confusing Iruka slightly.

"What do you mean he's hiding something? His story correlates almost completely with Ms. Ichiraku's, save for a few details after he had already blacked out." They stepped foot into an elevator, pressing the button for the fourth floor.

"Detective time, young Iruka." She waved her finger in his face, a defiant smirk etched on it. "The police report states blood was all over the garage, right? Well, that can work with what Ayame told us; a power wind force saved her. But based on forensics, we learned that there was a central pool of Naruto's blood, as well as minor starting pools. That means he stumbled a little, either forwards or backwards, but it means he didn't immediately fall on his knees like he said he did." Iruka crossed his arms, taking in his superiors points.

"That's fair, but remember he was also shot through the chest. He lost so much blood, he probably couldn't remember much after it."

"See, in detective work, the word 'probably' is a bad omen. In most gun wound cases, the victim can usually keep themselves moving. Adrenaline and what not. But this shouldn't be the case."

"And why isn't it." The elevator dinged, landing them on their desired floor. They both stepped out as Anko let out a small laugh.

"Did you read the report from the doctors? Surgeons stated that the bullet was lodged a mere 15 centimeters from his heart. Now, a bullet that close to the heart definitely will bleed a lot. The amount of blood we saw at the scene. Naruto should have died. No amount of adrenaline would keep that boy moving. He should have blacked out immediately." Iruka's face was now even more confused, his face scrunching in confusion.

"But wait, doesn't that mean Naruto was telling the full story?" Anko let out a 'tsk' in annoyance, picking up her pace down the hospital hall making Iruka speed up to catch her.

"It means that Naruto was telling the truth and Ayame was lying, or vice-versa. The fact of the matter is that Ayame had to be telling the truth, since his blood splatter impacts suggest he didn't pass out immediately. So that leads me to two questions now; one, how come Naruto didn't pass out immediately? And two, if he remembered the very specific memory of Ayame crying, why didn't he remember walking forward?"

"I guess that makes sense. I think what I'm really curious about is how Ayame said the wind saved her. You think this is a repeat of the Green Beast?" Anko shuddered slightly, remembering Konoha City's former vigilante.

"The Green Beast was still just a man. Controlling wind. The only thing I can think of is some mad scientist making a weather experiment or something. Those crazies tend to attract other crazies, you know? But I'd rather not think about that guy. The latex was just plain weird, man." She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. "All things considered, it honestly could be some new vigilante. These days, you never know what is going on. Maybe it's some more tech savvy weirdos, like that disbanded team that was based in Switzerland?" This time, it was Iruka's turn to shake his head.

"I'd rather not think about them. I still find it strange that a group of people that could be considered super human actually exist. I get they were all technology based and everything, but I still find unsettlingly that they were the closest thing to actual superheroes." Anko shook her head, dismissing the thoughts of them. She'd rather not think about them.

"Anyway, we are here." She knocked slightly on the door, crossing her arms afterwards. "I haven't received a call in over a week about Hisayoshi Miki's status. It's about time I checked myself." Iruka shrugged, his face looking uncertain. He had been working with Anko for a few months' time now, and he had learned how severe she could be. She didn't take no for an answer, and if you didn't talk to her, well just expect a surprise visit. The door to the room cracked open and a small elderly nurse stepped out.

"I'm sorry, this is a no visiting room- Oh. It's you." The nurse's eyes turned towards Anko, an annoyed expression instantly on her face. "I thought I told you not to come here. He's still in the same condition he was in a week ago." A tick appeared over Anko's face in irritation and she quickly pulled out her badge, bending over to look the woman in her eyes.

"Maybe if you would keep me updated like I asked you to, I wouldn't be here. Now move out of the way before I charge you with obstruction of justice. You copy that, bag of bones?" The old lady growled, but slowly walked away from the door, gesturing for them to go in. Anko smirked, pocketing her badge and gesturing with her head for Iruka to follow her. Both detectives walked in, making the lady shake her head.

"Crass bitch."

* * *

"He looks like he still in a very poor condition." Iruka observed the man in the poorly lit room. Hisayoshi had a thick coat of silver hair, one of the gang signs of the Mizuki Gang. Anko sighed, sitting down in the chair in his room.

"What do you expect? The man was sent flying through a wall. I expected him to be more beat up, if you want me to be honest. I just wish the stupid bastard would wake up from his coma already. We need his side of the story." Iruka scoffed, a rare smirk on his face.

"Oh really? You think you could make a member of the Mizuki Gang talk that easily? You're good Anko, but I don't think you're that good." With her eyes shut, she smirked and folded her legs, relaxing into the chair. She loved it when Iruka tried to test her like this.

"Yes I do. And he's not just a member. See that tattoo near his neck, on his shoulder? It's the Mizuki tattoo. Means he's high ranking. Only those in Mizuki's inner circle get those tattoos. Which means he and Mizuki himself are super tight." He turned to fully face her, confusion on his face.

"I don't get it. If he's close friends with Mizuki, he wouldn't turn on him that easily though." Her eyes opened, the fire burning in her eyes.

"I never said friends. I said tight. Mizuki is a gang leader, while Hisayoshi is only a member. It doesn't matter how high ranked you are; a failed mission is a failed mission. Hisayoshi's failure here means that Mizuki knows an investigation back into his gang is going to start. His only choice is to kill Hisayoshi and possible pay his way out to some dirty cops. You remember the Uchiha brat? He asked why homicide is here? That's why." She straightened up, yawning as her back cracked. "It's also why I want that bitch of a nurse to keep me updated on this garbage. I can't have a potential aid to the Mizuki case die on me."

Iruka stood in silence, processing Anko's words. He knew Anko was a rude and eccentric woman that always seemed to joke around, but her deductive reasoning was always spot on. In a world where their police department thought 6 steps ahead, Anko was already 12. He truly respected her and was glad she was the one training him.

"Well, regardless, I don't think he's waking up anytime soon." Anko nodded, agreeing with her junior.

"Agreed. He's still got a few days on his coma, probably." She rose from the chair, quickly turning towards the door. "Hey old bat! If he wakes up, call me immediately. It's important." She shouted out to the old nurse, who sat at the nurse's station. She merely growled out a response and rolled her eyes as the police left the hospital.

* * *

"Oh come on, I'm fine!" Naruto yelled out at his nurse, trying to get out of his bed. In front of him, Nurse Saito and his mom were glaring down at him.

"You've been unconscious for 10 days, Naruto. You're staying right there in bed!" The nurse glared down, his mother nodding at what she had told him.

"She's right. You barely woke up today. You aren't ready to be walking about." His mother tried to reason with him, but he simply shook his head in defiance.

"I feel fine already! I barely have any pain and I just want to go see Teuchi!" The nurse let out a sigh. Both her and Kushina realized that nothing was going to stop Naruto.

"Alright fine… You're healing well, but if I see you not using your crutches, you're going to be stuck in bed for an entire week!" She hissed angrily before turning and heading out of the room. With a large smile, he swung his legs from under the covers, already reaching for the crutches that were laid out near his bed.

"Naruto, are you sure about this? I don't want you aggravating that wound." He shrugged it off, rising from the bed, wearing only the standard hospital gown.

"I need to start walking around anyway. Get better and all that. I can't stay in the hospital much longer. Even with insurance, it's probably gonna be crazy. Which reminds me, when I'm better off, I'll try and get a job to help pay for bills and all that." She shook her head with a sad smile. Her son was shot and almost killed and he was thinking about paying her back for his hospital bills. He truly did have a good and genuine heart.

"Naruto, don't worry about the bills. I got them covered. I just want you to focus on getting better, okay? You really don't have to think about those types of things." He made a passing gesture with his hand to her.

"Mom, I'm always gonna worry about stuff like this. I can't just let you be the only one that worries about stuff. Even with insurance, this isn't gonna be pretty and I want to help anyway I can." She smiled, rising from her seat and placing a gentle palm on his unharmed shoulder.

"You can help by going to check on Teuchi and that girl you saved. Which I'm proud of by the way. Nothing quite like being hurt saving someone. Gets your brownie points too." She winked a little, nudging him slightly. He let out a vermillion blush before walking away from her slightly.

"Okay okay, we are not having this conversation right now. I'm leaving now to check them. Go do work stuff or something!" He sped out of the room as fast as someone with a hole in their chest and crutches could go. His mom let out a small smile before grabbing a coat nearby. He was right. She was neglecting work, and she couldn't keep doing that. Now that Naruto was safe, she could safely go back to the fire department and apologize for her absence. As she prepared to walk out the door, a nicely dressed woman came into the room and noticed the red head.

"Are you Kushina Uzumaki?" She nodded, her hand clenching a bit against her bag. She already knew where this was going.

"Yes, that's me." The woman smiled slightly, in hopes of being friendly.

"Could you come with me? We need to talk about insurance and medical bills." Kushina let out a small gulp. Immediately after talking to Naruto about this too.

"Sure thing."

* * *

"Oh come on Ayame, take me to him! I'll 'wreck' him, as the kids say!" Teuchi Ichiraku had his arms crossed like a child, pouting to his daughter, who sat in front of him, a deadpan look on her face. He sat under the covers of his hospital bed, covered in bandages. His face was bruised bad.

"I've healed up honey. I'm at full strength now. I can take it!" He raised a fist, fire in his eyes. Ayame sighed, holding his hand down.

"Dad, calm down. The guy is still in a coma and you're still in the hospital. Just take it easy until you're out of here." Her dad let out a bigger pout, pulling his arm away and facing the opposite direction.

"I'm just angry… I…" His fists clenched, shaking slightly. "I'm your father. And I did nothing besides getting my face beaten in! I couldn't protect you…" She could hear the tears forming in her father's eyes. "I'm such a failure…"

"Dad no, you're not-"

"I did nothing! What kind of father am I?" Teuchi was going to continue when he heard a soft knock at the door. He didn't speak up, them both sitting in the silence besides his sniffles. She bit her lip. She wanted to be there for her father, but she wasn't sure if it was a doctor at the door or not. She rose up and went to answer the door.

"Hello? Oh, hello Naruto!" She opened the door, surprised to see the blond who saved her life. He was wearing the same hospital gown as her father and had bandages wrapped around his chest, leading to a giant piece of gauze on his left side shoulder. He had a crutch holding up his left side slightly. He smiled at seeing Ayame's face, glad to see her again. From the bed, Teuchi turned quickly, his tears gone and a giant grin on his face.

"Naruto?" Just the man I wanted to see!" He gestured over to the blond, signaling him to come over to his bedside. "Free ramen for life, my boy!" Naruto let out a loud gasp, almost falling over to the floor, but luckily Ayame was there to catch him. She was scrambling, holding the blond in her arms, stars in his eyes.

"Dad! He literally just woke up, you're gonna give him a heart attack!" She yelled out, making the elderly man laugh. After a few moments, they all readjusted themselves, Naruto and Ayame sitting on opposite sides of the bed.

"I'm serious Naruto! Free ramen forever at Ichiraku! I'll let the whole staff know and everything!" Naruto's mouth was watering at Teuchi's offer. Ramen was great, but infinite ramen was the best thing in the world.

"I'm gonna take you up on that offer a lot." The mans laugh was contagious, making Naruto smile with him. "I'm glad to see you are doing fine Teuchi. I was scared Ichiraku was gonna go outta business." The man rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"No sir ree! I'll never die if it means the restaurant would go out of business!" They all laughed for a few moments before Teuchi's eyes took a more somber turn, lowering his head.

"I wanted to say thank you Naruto… You kept my daughter safe and she's alive- No, we BOTH are alive thanks to you. I don't think I can ever fully repay you for helping my family like you have." He bowed to him from his seated position, taking Naruto by surprise. He couldn't help but let a small tear fall from his eyes. He was glad he had detention and was there to help the Ichiraku's. It felt good to help someone.

* * *

"Naruto could I speak with you for a little bit?" Naruto was getting ready to leave Teuchi's room when he looked back to see Ayame behind him, grabbing his arm.

"Uh, sure thing." He nodded slightly as she waved a goodbye to her father. She followed him out the door, gesturing towards the hospitals outside area. Following her, she saw a nice bench in the small courtyard.

"It's really weird that hospitals have these courtyards on higher floors. Like, a courtyard on the third floor is just weird." He chuckled slightly at his own talk before seeing the serious look on Ayame's face. It seems this wasn't the moment for small talk.

"I didn't tell the police anything, if that's what you have been wondering all day." Naruto gulped, looking around to make sure the courtyard was empty before sitting at the bench with a sigh.

"The way you say that makes it sound so illegal." He laughed awkwardly, his hand on the back of his head. He looked back to her to see her looking at him seriously, a firm determination on her mind.

"I mean it! All I said was it was some weird force of nature! I didn't tell them you have super powers!" Naruto was shaking in fear, his face red. There was a silence between them before Ayame's entire face also turned beet red.

"Oh crap! I'm sorry, I don't mean to shout! I just blew your cover, I'm so sorry!" She started bowing to him multiple times in succession, making the blond laugh before taking a more serious tone.

"I don't have a cover to blow. I'm not some secret agent or anything like that. Though that would be cool. If I'm honest, I still don't know if it was me or someone else that commanded the wind that night. I've never done that before, so I'm as lost as you are." He looked down, quiet. He knew Ayame probably wouldn't believe him, but he didn't care. He had no idea what was going on and truly wondered if he did indeed have powers. After the silence had passed for a few seconds, the sound of a fist hitting a hand startled Naruto.

"I got it! You must have been bitten by a radioactive spider or came from a different planet!" She had stars in her eyes from uncovering the truth. His look turned deadpan before yelling at the girl.

"I'm not Spider-Man or Superman ya jerk!" She sobbed silently, her ideas shot down so violently. A few more seconds past before she spoke up again.

"This isn't a comic book. Super powers don't exist. Or at least that's what I thought." She smiled warmly to the blond. "I don't understand what happened at all, but you still saved my life. So count me in." Naruto gave her a confused look that made her laugh. "I'm here for you Naruto! Count me as an ally in your fight against villainy!" She raised a defiant fist, making Naruto laugh.

"I don't know about all that, but thank you. You make it seem like we are crime fighting team or something like that." He chuckled as her face, lit up, making Naruto dead pan once more. "Don't be getting any ideas!" She nodded triumphantly.

"Okay okay, no ideas!" She winked slyly to the blond, making him sigh.

"You're really not reassuring me, Ayame…" Despite everything that had happened, the girl still had a great attitude about everything. In order to lighten the tone, Naruto leaned back in the bench, relaxing finally.

"So I've never seen you around, so I'm gonna assume you go to some other high school besides, Konoha High right? Where do you go?" He asked, an effort to try and make friends with Ayame. She gave him a confused look before giggling a little.

"Naruto, I DID go to Konoha High. I graduated 2 years ago." It was Naruto's turn to look confused as he did the numbers in his head.

"Wait really!? You're not my age? What that? How old are you?" She laughed, taking Naruto's confusion at her age as a compliment.

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 soon though!" Naruto was flabbergasted. Ayame was 2 years older than him this entire time and he had no idea!

"Wow. I didn't know that. You're so old then." Her smile faltered, a malicious scowl on her face, unaware by Naruto.

"Old…?" She hissed out, oozing a malicious intent towards the injured blond. True to his oblivious nature, he didn't see the evil radiating out of the brunette.

"Well, I guess not that old, but yeah still old!" She calmed herself down, knowing that Naruto probably wasn't that experienced with the opposite sex. She sighed and looked down, crossing her arms.

"You are not that good at this, are you?" She was talking about talking to girls and potentially flirting, but the notion of that went straight over his head, who simply pursed his lips in thought.

"I mean, I never used those kind of powers before, so yeah I can't imagine I'd be good with them. I can't practice. I mean, I could, but I don't know how to even activate them." He started mumbling about his powers, making Ayame sweatdrop.

"Okay that's it! We are gonna train now! We are a crime fighting duo! Got it!" Naruto shook his head once more, looking towards the girl who had jumped from her bench seat.

"It doesn't make sense Ayame. I can't use these powers effectively. Plus, I'm in the hospital from really bad injuries. This is why we have the police. They are the ones that fight crime, not some kid in high school." Despite her playful attitude, the look on her face hardened, something that Naruto actually noticed immediately.

"If I had waited on the police, both me and my father would be dead. They weren't there in time, but YOU were. I agree. This is the police's domain, but they can't always be there. But someone with powers surely can help them save people. Isn't that what it's about at the end of the day? It's not their job. It's them wanting to save lives." Naruto was stunned silent by Ayame. His mind wandered back to earlier, the smile on Teuchi's face as he thanked Naruto.

Tears started to well in the blondes eyes the more he thought about it. Teuchi Ichiraku was alive and going to be okay. Ayame Ichiraku is still alive. Two lives would have ended if Naruto had never showed up. Ayame was right. It was all about saving lives.

"I thought you worked at a ramen shop, not as a salesman?" He said through the tears that were now running down his cheeks. She let out a wink and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Who said I can't do both?" He started to wipe the tears away, a new look of faith on his face.

"Alright, I'm sold! Once I'm out of here, let's start working on controlling these abilities." Her face lit up and she raised her fist, happy she finally got to Naruto.

"Yeah!"

* * *

"Wha… Where. Ugh my head.." Hisayoshi Miki felt life back in his eyes and was greeted to the cold drab décor of a hospital room and the painful throbbing after a long night of drinking. He tried to reach his head in order to rub it to ease the pain, but his arm was securely fastened above him, wrapped tightly. Starting to gage what had happened, he had remembered what had transpired; he was severely beaten and tossed through the wall by that random blond brat.

"Nurse! Nurse! Get me the hell out of here!" He was starting to shake violently, thrashing around in his bed in anger. He needed to get out of here right away. Outside the room, the elderly nurse heard the commotion and started heading for the door. Walking in, she saw the thrashing injured man, who quickly noticed her.

"Hey! Hey! I need to get out of here! I'm fine, really!" He shouted to her, trying to get out of his bed, but his restraints held him in. The elderly nurse let out a mental sigh. She was really getting tired of all this drama.

"Mr. Miki, I need you to calm down. You were injured very badly and were in a coma. You really need to stay here so we can monitor you." He let out a small gulp. He couldn't be here. Mizuki wouldn't be pleased at all at his failure to get money from that stupid Ichiraku Ramen.

"Look, I'm fine! Just get these restraints off and just let me leave! I'm all okay now!" He was practically begging to be freed, ignoring the aftereffects of his coma. She could easily she from his shaky demeanor that he was going to be suffering from the effects and needing physical therapy. She raised up her hands to get the man to stop begging.

"Okay okay. I'm going to go talk to the doctor, but first I need to get you some medication to calm you down and make you feel better. I'll be right back." She walked out of the room to nurses' desk, a sigh on her face. One of her fellow nurses looked up from the computer she was typing on.

"That coma guy wake up?" She nodded, walking next to her and sitting down. "You going to call the detective lady?" She let out a snort, shaking her head at her friends notion.

"No way. That bitch can wait. I'll call her tomorrow after I've had time to relax. I've dealt with her enough these last few days. Now I got to get this guy some medicine." From nearby, a man in the nearby waiting room pulled out his cell phone and walked out of the lobby.

* * *

"A-are you sure?" Kushina was in disbelief as the well-dressed brunette nodded with a small laugh.

"Yes Ms. Uzumaki, I'm quite sure. Up to this moment, all of your sons medical bills are paid for. Depending on what tests he needs it will change, but all his bills were already paid. In fact, his stay in the hospital was even paid for almost 2 more weeks." Kushina was sitting down, trying to process the information that the hospital clerk was telling her.

"How even though? I didn't pay for any medical bills yet, and my job certainly didn't cover the costs of anything." The woman nodded, going through the payment packets, looking for the answers.

"It says here that all of your sons expenses were paid for by the Uchiha family. I guess you guys have some friends in high places. Well, I just wanted to go over that with you. For now, you're all paid up." With a final nod, the woman dismissed herself from the empty waiting room she had talking to Kushina in.

"Oh my god…" She placed a hand over her mouth. Sasuke Uchiha's family had paid for all of her sons bills. She knew Sasuke and Naruto were good friends, but she didn't imagine his family would cover all their medical bills. It was at times like this that she was glad that her former husband had bonded so much with the Uchiha patriarch when they were in their youth. It seemed their bond had carried on over to their kids.

"Please don't tell Naruto." Kushina jolted upwards as she was startled out of her thoughts. Turning around, she saw Sasuke Uchiha standing at the doorway to the closed off waiting room. He looked at her with his usual apathic like look. "Didn't mean to startle you. I never left after the police got here. Was just walking around. Wanted to say bye to the idiot." She smiled slightly. He played it cool, but he cared about his friend a lot.

"It's no worries. But why?" He let out a sigh, looking away from her when he rested on the wall.

"You know how your son is. He would just get mad at me and refuse the help. Obviously, it's already paid, but the idiot would just start working himself harder then he should to try and pay me back, and I don't want that." She sweatdropped slightly. They had been friends for so long that she was sure Sasuke made a perfect assessment of what her son would do if he were to find out.

"You're probably right. Naruto wouldn't just accept that kind of help. I'll tell him it was my work. They paid for it more than I thought they were gonna or something like that." She smiled again at her son's friend. "Just let me know if there is ever some way I can repay you." The edge of his lips curved slightly to smile as he heard the familiar voice behind.

"Sasuke, you're still here?" Behind him, Naruto was walking up in his crutches, a confused look on his face.

"Yeah. Decided to stick around to say bye and that I hope you recover fast, but knowing how much of an idiot you are, you're probably going to hurt yourself right away." Naruto started to growl, raising a fist at the raven haired man.

"What did you just say to me, bastard! I'll fight you right here and now!" Sasuke smirked as Kushina walked out of the lobby, an angry expression on her face.

"You do that and you'll hurt yourself right away like he said, you dumbass!" He was taken back from seeing his mom, a look of betrayal on his face.

"Mom? I didn't mean it. Really I didn't!" A small chuckle escaped from Sasuke's lips before he turned away, giving his signature two finger wave.

"Now that the family is reunited, I'm going to go ahead and call this a night. Feel better Naruto." Naruto sent a salute towards his friend, his look now morphed to a huge smile.

"See ya soon, loser!" As Naruto was waving to his friend, his mother creeped up next to him, a sly smile on her face.

"My my my sonny boy. What is that in your hand?" He blinked in confusion and looked down in his hand, just remembering that he had a piece of paper in his left hand. Instinctively, he pulled it close to himself, a blush on his face.

"This is nothing you need to worry about!" She nudged him with her finger, her smile getting bigger.

"Looks like someone got a number. Text her now. Now. Now!" She continued nudging her son, making him turn even redder and to try and hobble away.

"I don't need this stress!"

* * *

Hisayoshi was starting to feel better. The meds the nurse had given him were starting to kick in and all the after effects of his coma were starting to subside. It still hurt to move, but most of the pain was numbed out from the medicine.

"I guess I can stay here for a little bit," he mumbled out, relaxing from everything that had happened a week prior. He heard the soft creak from his door being gently pushed open. "Oh hey nurse, thanks again for these meds. I didn't mean to freak out on you."

"Freaking out is something you would do, isn't it." Hisayoshi's eyes widened in terror. The voice wasn't that of his gravely old nurse, but instead one that was befitting to a young man. He turned and looked over the side of his room to see a silver haired man walk into the room. He wore a pale blue dress shirt that was folded up on his forearms, as well as a pair of dark jeans with a black belt. On his face, he wore a pair of small rectangular glasses, as well as a welcoming smile.

"It's nice to see you after all this time, Hisayoshi." He walked up to the bed calmly, making Hisayoshi feel an intense dread. This couldn't be real.

"M-Mizuki? Is that really you?" Mizuki smirked, extending his arms out.

"In the flesh. See, I wanted to personally see how you were doing, seeing as you were out of commission for quite some time." He walked up towards the bed, standing a few feet away from the scared man. "How are you feeling Hisayoshi? Mind telling me what happened?" His calm demeanor is always what frightened everyone. The fact Mizuki could keep a level-headed expression before he did something bad was always unsettling.

"I don't know. I had it all in the bag. Some blonde brat stopped me. All I remember is going through the wall and being knocked unconscious. I had no idea what happened!" Hisayoshi's voice raised in panic. He had no idea what Mizuki would do. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed.

"I know what happened. You failed me is what happened." Hisayoshi started to shake his head drastically.

"No no! I swear, I'll get the money from them! I just need to get out of here." Mizuki shook his head sadly. They both knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Hisa, we both know that's a no-go," He stepped closer to the bed, near inches from the railing of his hospital bed. He placed one of his arms on the railing, the other in his pocket. "I just don't understand how you could fail something so simple that I could have sent a simple enforcer to do. You're supposed to be a member of my most trusted." He held a sad tone as he spoke, making Hisayoshi shake his head more, the nervousness apparent on his face.

"I am still useful Mizuki! Trust me, I can do this! I can fix my mistakes!" Mizuki shook his head, his somber expression turning to one with a small smirk.

"Your story ends now, Hisayoshi Miki." In an instant, Mizuki's pocketed hand flew out, a strange knife now in his hand. It one fluid motion, the knife was brought down as fast as it was drawn, straight into Hisayoshi's chest, his thumb at the edge of the handle. Hisayoshi lurched forward, about to scream as the clothed tricep of Mizuki's slammed into his mouth.

"It's just business. You knew what would happen." His face was wearing an evil smirk as he twisted the knife inside his chest, making Hisayoshi tremble in pain. The whites of his eyes started to fill in with a crimson shade. Almost as fast as it happened, his body stopped moving, his eyes lifeless.

"What a waste." Lifting off of his body, he withdrew his knife with the sound of a soft squish. His knife let off a golden tint that was almost hidden behind the red hue of blood. Unlike most knifes, the blade looked as if it was a spear tip with a spiral in the blade, grooved to increase pain. Besides that, it had a normal carbon fiber handle and was a shorter blade then most. With one last look at Hisayoshi's deceased body, Mizuki turned towards the door, placing his strange knife back in his pocket.

"Good riddance"

* * *

 **Well, there is episode 2. It's around 100 words less than the first chapter, but I still feel like a lot went down this chapter, so I'm happy with how it went.**

 **So I'm writing in an episode format, so I'm trying to make each chapter around 15-17 pages long, with it being around 2 minutes or so to read a page (probably less, but meh) to give it around a half-hour run time, as if it were an actual show. So hopefully you all enjoy that.**

 **I'm working on getting these out faster, but it's still hard. I will be better for you guys.**

 **Episode 3 out soon!**


	3. Episode 3: I Have Powers!

**This little section is for comments for me to address:**

* * *

 **Spark681: Unless she can talk to the dead. Shit, she might be able to (Spoiler: She can't)**

 **RalphDaSwordsman: Yeah it did, and I'm sorry for that. I'm going to try and be better for everyone, but mostly for you Senpai *blushes at Ralph***

* * *

 **Hi. I'm still alive. Surprisingly. I'm trying my best to get these out as fast as I can. My current time frame it at least two weeks for a chapter. I mean, I don't know the time frame between chapter 1 and 2 (assuming it was more than 2 weeks though) but it's what I'm aiming for.**

 **I work two jobs and am in college courses. I have very little free time, but that is still no excuse. I'm sorry for the delay between chapters and how long its taking me to get these out. I'm really trying though.**

 **Did we like the reference I made to a certain video game? If you liked that, I might make more references to other anime, but that all depends on if people liked it. So holla at your boy.**

 **For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

 **Make sure to smash that mothafreakin' like button so I know you all dig it!**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 3: I Have Powers!**

* * *

All Iruka could hear was the running sounds of computers, as well as the constant background chatter that loved to stay at the Konoha City Police Department. He was deep in thought about the recent cases he was assigned with his superior when the loud slap of a case file jogged him out of it.

"What?" He instinctively jumped up and looked to see the angry face of Anko Mitarashi. Just by seeing her face, he already knew that she had threw down the Hisayoshi Miki case on his desk. "I take it your angry over what happened?"

"You're damn right I'm pissed! I told that woman to let me know the INSTANT he woke up. Her negligence resulted in the death of a key piece to the Mizuki Gang case!" She plopped down in the chair near her juniors desk, all playfulness gone from her face.

"Well, we know it was Mizuki that did the deed at least." Iruka was trying to reassure her, which only made her scoff in annoyance.

"A lot of good that will do us! We know he did it, but we can't prove it at all. The knife was a custom job, so the most we could do is try and reverse engineer how the knife looked and who made it, but they wouldn't give up Mizuki that easily. He left no finger prints on the scene at all. And to make matters worse, no one even saw him leave the scene!" She groaned in anger, leaning back in the chair. Iruka pursed his lips in thought.

"Essentially, it's a forensics nightmare. We can't place Mizuki at the scene of the crime at all. No witnesses and no evidence. This is a pretty bad case Anko. I'm not really sure we can do anything about it, not without combing the scene and trying to find any mistakes Mizuki could have made."

"I plan on doing my own search later in the evening. I told them to leave the crime scene as is, minus the body of course. But first I need to talk to Lieutenant Morino about actually assigning me to the case." Iruka was in the middle taking a sip of his tea before almost spitting it out, looking at Anko with wide eyes.

"Wait, you aren't assigned to this case? Anko, where did you get this casefile from?" Iruka was concerned about his superior when a tall intimidating man appeared from behind Anko. Feeling his presence, she tilted her head backwards, looking at him with an upside-down smirk.

"What's shakin', bacon? And I don't mean bacon because you're a cop," she chuckled a little before, tilting her head back to Iruka. "I crack myself up." The man let out a gravely sigh, placing his hands on his hips.

"Do you mind telling me why you have the Hisayoshi case, Detective Mitarashi?" She groaned again, being reminded of the failure that resulted in said man's death.

"I took it. From Genny. He didn't need it. It woulda just went cold." The man growled, walking past the chair and quickly snatched the file from Iruka's desk. Ever since he attained the rank of detective, he had feared Lieutenant Morino. Back when he was just a cop, he was invisible. Morino led all his detectives with an iron fist, and he paid no attention to uniforms. But now that he was in training to report under Morino, all his attention was on him.

Ibiki Morino was a very large and very tall tanned man. Like Iruka, he wore a nice suit black suit, highlighting the fact he was a detective. He wore a long trench coat that was similar to Anko's, except it was black. His face was super stern and had a look of anger permeantly etched on. He wore a black do-rag that hid his graying hair, as he was starting to get up in age.

"There is nothing wrong with the police work from Detective Shiranui. He and Detective Yamashiro can handle this case. I have other cases I need you to work and figure out. You can't take all the cases Anko." He started to turn away from the dup before Anko exclaimed in annoyance, hopping out of the chair.

"Wrong! I already finished those cases you assigned me. So easy I finished them in the john. Ooh, funny story; the guy that robbed the convenience store on Karasuma Street? Turns out, his name was actually John! Funny how life works, right?" She laughed to herself, making Ibiki roll his eyes. Anko was always a handful to deal with.

"You're telling me you solved 4 cases right away, without even leaving the precinct?" She shrugged nonchalantly.

"You sound surprised. I don't look like Shisui Uchiha, do I? I'm Anko freakin' Mitarashi!" Iruka was deadpanning near her. She was always so humble, wasn't she? Ibiki's face twitched in discontent for a second before he sighed in defeat, extending his arm with the case forward.

"Fine. But if there are any screw-ups, you're fired. Detective Umino, you're with her. Please make a break in this case so I have a valid reason to explain to Shiranui and Yamashiro." She scoffed, and waved off Ibiki with a 'tsk'.

"I am your valid reason. Don't be foolin'." Next to her, Iruka shook his head and went to grab his coat.

"Well, you got your case. In record time, I might add. What's the plan?" She smiled, tucking the case under her arm and starting to walk off.

"We go to the hospital. You know how we do!"

* * *

"See, I can walk perfectly fine. I'm done here!" Naruto was standing in the middle of his hospital room with no help from his crutches. "I'm super fit!" He jumped up and done, showing the doctor and his mother in the room that he was already healed from all his injuries. The doctor let out an exasperated sigh and held his hand against his forehead before placing it on his clipboard.

"I just don't get it. His injuries were severe, but he's almost completely healed in a two-week period. He barely woke up from his coma a week ago. This doesn't make sense medically." Kushina chuckled and turned to the doctor next to her with a sweat drop.

"I know what you mean, but is that really something you should say to a patients mother? Hehe," her face was drained at hearing how impossible her sons recover was, making her wonder what could of happened. The doctors face turned bright red and he held his hand behind his dark hair.

"You're right. That's my bad. I apologize," he shifted to the side, looking back at Naruto, and then back down to his papers.

"Medically, Naruto is absolutely fine. The X-ray we did show there isn't any lasting damage inside his organs. In fact, the only way to know this actually happened to you is if you show people the scar over your heart." His fist clench instinctively as he looked down at his chest. On his left pec, he had an already fading horizontal scar. It was still odd to him to think about the bullet that had nearly missed his heart, and the fact he was thinking of actually becoming a real superhero. He looked back to the doctor and his mom with a smile.

"Hey, now I can say I saved a damsel in distress. Got the scar to prove it and everything." Kushina gave her son a warm smile. It was always her favorite to see his attitude. No matter what, it never went bad or diminished.

"Whats better is that you saved the damsel and proceeded to get her phone number. Now you can, 'slide in them dm's'." Naruto's face morphed into one of disgust, making Kushina laugh. She loved embarrassing her son so much. Seeing the happy family, the doctor smiled.

"I'm glad you two are having so much fun. I believe everything was already paid up at the desk, so you guys are free to go. If you have any small pain, over the counter pain medicine will do wonders for you Naruto. If the pain gets severe or hurts for a long time, I want you to come right back here, alright?" Naruto nodded to the doctor, who smiled back to the family before walking out of the room.

"Looks like your all back to normal." He nodded, stretching by arching his back backwards.

"Yeah. And I hafta go back to school now. The only good thing that came from this whole ordeal was the fact I had an actual reason to skip school." He chuckled before his face turned to one of horror. "Not saying I skip school or anything!"

"Honestly, I'd be more disappointed if you didn't skip school. I know how that sounds, I only mean sometimes! You skip a lot and I'll kick your little ass, got it?" She clenched her fist and held it up to emphasize her point. He gulped and nodded his head, hands up in defeat.

"Of course! Not much! Very few days," he laughed nervously. "Can we just go home or something. I'm tired of being in the hospital."

"I bet you are. Sure thing, Naruto. I'm going to make you some really good ramen tonight, so let's head to the store before home." Naruto's mouth watered just thinking about the ramen he was going to get. As they walked out, he glanced to the left, seeing the two detectives from earlier walking through the hospital.

"Oh hey! Hi Anko! Hi Iruka!" Naruto waved, a huge smile on his face. Iruka returned the smile with a small wave back while Anko let out a chuckle.

"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite attempted homicide victim. How you been, blondes?" He shrugged slightly, his hands resting back into his pockets.

"I mean, I could be better. But, hey! At least I get to leave this crappy place! Which reminds me. Why the heck are you guys back?" Iruka looked confused as he stepped closer to Naruto in order to stand next to Anko.

"You do now what happened, right Naruto?" The blonde gave him a confused head tilt.

"Not really. I spent all my time in the room, all cooped up. The only time I left was to see old man Ichiraku. He's not doing as well as me, it seems." Anko chortled slightly, glancing at her partner.

"Hey, well you know what they say about old people right? They don't heal anywhere near as fast as us, huh?" She elbowed Iruka slightly, her eyebrows wiggling. In front of her, Naruto nodded with his arms crossed.

"She's right. They don't heal that good. Which means you hafta be careful Ms. Anko!" A cold chill entered Iruka's spine as Anko froze, her face displaying a blank slate. He let out a solemn gulp before facing Naruto and Kushina.

"You should run, Mr. Uzumaki," he whimpered out, sweat already pouring down his face. Naruto let out a confused 'huh' while his mother simply sighed.

"I would, but he deserves this and you know it." He turned to his mom, the confusion now starting to scare him slightly.

"What do you mean? Deserve wh- AUGH!" With his head turned, he couldn't see the mighty hammer fist of Anko's descend on his head. The impact was so powerful, the blonde was sent sprawling to the ground, almost as if it was a cartoon. Above him, Anko had fire in her soul and her fist was raised, metaphorically steaming from the anger.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING OLD YOU BRAT? I'M ONLY 24 YOU BASTARD!" From the floor, Naruto twitched slightly, his face deep in the tile.

"I'm so sorry…"

* * *

"You didn't have to smack him so hard. He is still a kid you know?" Iruka chuckled slightly, trying to calm down his visibly agitated partner. Next to him, she was fuming with her arms crossed, an evil aura generating over her.

"He'll be fine. He's young remember? He heals fast!" She hissed out, the anger evident on her face as they walked through the hospitals halls. He let out another nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head in the process.

"Anko… I think your making this place feel even more like death." She turned to her side in one fast motion, making Iruka jump back in fear.

"THE HELLS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" She was grinding her teeth in anger, glaring at her junior. He gulped as he watched his superior fume, making every staff member and patient rush to avoid her as if she were the plague.

"N-no reason. Must be my imagination. Hehe!" He let out another nervous laugh as the women glared at him before turning away to keep heading towards their destination.

"You're buying me dango after this." He rested his head in defeat. She was hungry now and that meant he was going to be broke until his next paycheck. After a few moments of silenced defeat, he started walking to catch up with Anko, who was already at the door of former patient Hisayoshi Miki. As he walked to them, he could make out the familiar silhouette of the nurse from before in front of Anko.

"Am I allowed to go in this time, or do you have someone else you want to kill this time? By all means, give me more work." The woman looked down, the guilt clearly evident in her body language.

"I already said sorry. I don't know what else I can do. I'm sorry." Anko's eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on her already crossed arms. Naruto made her angry, sure, but it was a playful anger she felt. But this woman had angered her so bad, she couldn't help herself anymore.

"Sorry doesn't do jackshit. A man's dead and it's your fault. Just remember that before you decide to get all petty. We are going in now." The old womans face was completely hidden as Anko turned from her to enter the room, but Iruka was able to see the faint sight of liquid falling from her unseen face before following his partner.

"You didn't have to be so mean Anko. It doesn't hurt to be sensitive, y'know?" She rolled her eyes, examining the crime scene that was laid before her. It looked like a normal hospital room, despite the clear foreboding aura that was left from the murder.

"Yeah, me. I'm the sensitive type. You've gotten to know me so well these past few months, huh?" She bent down to look at the bed that Hisayoshi laid in, determination in her eyes. "Besides. She let a man die. I have no time for sensitivity when I'm investigating a murder." Iruka let out a small sigh, walking towards the window near the hospital beds right side.

"Some hero you are." He let it slip out, not caring that Anko was his superior. Luckily for him, she let the remark slide, with only a faint glance to him from her kneeled position.

"I'm not a hero in the first place," she cracked the knuckles in her left hand with her thumb before placing her gaze back on the bed. "I'm a cop. And this is what I do." Iruka closed his eyes and embraced her words. She had a point, but she was always so heartless when it came to people. It was very unsettling to him. He turned away from the window to see Anko rising from her squatted position.

"See anything that can help? Far as I can tell, this place looks incredibly cold." She nodded, placing her hand under her chin.

"Agreed. The forensics didn't listen and they cleaned up incredibly good. Only thing we can do is go back to the precinct and look at all the forensic files, huh?" Iruka looked down to the ground, slightly annoyed at their fruitless adventure. "Or?" Iruka's face quickly shot up, worry evident on his face.

"Oh come on Anko, I already know I'm not gonna like this." She smirked, rushing over to the bed's side and grabbing the chair near it. "What are you doing?" She looked back to him, telling him to be quiet as she scooted the chair towards the corner, before jumping to the chair. Above her was a small hidden camera in the upper corner near the roof. She unplugged a flash drive that was connected to it and hopped back down.

"Maybe this security camera footage would help us!" Iruka deadpanned slightly, giving Anko an incredulous look.

"Anko, we can't use a hidden camera you installed. How'd you even find the time to get that installed without anyone knowing? You know very well that's illegal!" She scoffed, brushing him off and placing a hand on the door knob.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Mama's got moves. Now quit being a baby and let's get to the security room." She was out of the room before he could say anything, making him simply groan and follow her in defeat.

* * *

"I missed you comfy bed!" Naruto shouted, jumping into his bed and burying his face in the blankets. He had spent so long on the rough hospital bed that his own bed felt as if he were sleeping on a cloud.

"Looks like you were more homesick then you thought, huh?" He lifted his head from the blankets to see his mother, leaning against the door frame in his room. He shifted from laying down to sitting up, looking at her.

"I guess so. I was in the hospital for like 2 weeks. It honestly seemed like it was longer." She chuckled, rising from her leaning position and walked towards him, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Oh honey, that's just the drugs talking." His face shifted into a scowl, making her chuckle once more.

"Yeah, you are just so informative, aren't you?" She shrugged, a sly smile still etched on her face.

"What can I say? I try." His scowl quickly turned to a smile as he looked down at the ground.

"Hey. I love you mom. You know that, right?"

"Jeesh, why are you being so lame? Course I know that. And I love you too dork. Don't worry me like that again, or I'll be the one that puts you in the hospital." He laughed at her joke and turned to give her a hug.

If she was so worried about him after this coma, it was certain to him he could never tell her his ambitions on becoming a hero. After what felt like a few minutes, Naruto broke off the hug with his mom.

"Is it alright if I rest and relax for a little bit? I want to check out Ichiraku and see how they are, but I'm super tired." She rose from the bed with a sigh.

"You just want to ignore your mother for your little girlfriend. I see how it is." She playfully pouted, crossing her arms, making her son turn bright red.

"She's not my girlfriend you jerk, shut up! I just want to see how she is!" He threw a pillow at her, who ran out of the room laughing.

* * *

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! Oh, Naruto it's you!" Naruto walked through the familiar door of Ichiraku to see it was still as busy as ever. Instead of a normal hostess, he was met with the smiling face of Ayame Ichiraku.

"Heya Ayame! I see this place is still popular." He gestured to the full booth seats on his left and she laughed with a nod.

"Everyone wanted to make sure dad was all okay and business just hasn't stopped since! Who knew this many people loved ramen? I'll sit with you in a little, it's just a 10-minute wait." With that, she ran off, looking as if she was juggling multiple things at once.

He waited for a little before a man came up and seated him in a corner booth near the restaurants front. He ordered himself a miso ramen and waited patiently, the place still as busy as the moment he walked in.

After 40 minutes and 6 bowls of ramen, Ayame slumped into the booth, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips.

"That was so crazy! I'm sorry for the long wait. I didn't expect it to pick up even more!" He chuckled slightly, sipping out the broth of his bowl.

"I guess business has been booming for you guys, huh?" She nodded, letting her head fall to the table.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" She lifted up her head to look at the blond, her chin still on the table. "Everyone heard about you and dad and they have been advertising for us like crazy. I guess word of mouth is pretty dang good." Placing his bowl on the table, he rested his arms on the table.

"Well, I'm glad all this Mizuki crap isn't hurting you guys too much. That would be totally BS if you had to close." She shook her head, lifting her head up with a huge smile, that slightly startled Naruto.

"It's funny you say that! We are actually understaffed like really bad right now. So as acting manager, I do have the ability to hire people on…" She trailed off, giving him a wink, which made the blond tilt his head in confusion.

"So… Hire new people? I don't understand the problem there." She growled, glaring down at the boy.

"You really are dense aren't you? I want to hire you, you dingus!" Naruto pushed back in the booth, a startled expression pasted on his face.

"What? Me? Why would you want me working here?" She facepalmed, shaking her head at the blond boys confusion.

"We are kinda partners in this whole superhero thing, remember?" She whispered out, making him yelp slightly. He looked around the restaurant, seeing a few patrons eating their food and chatting, but no one paying attention to them.

"I've been thinking about that. I haven't really had time to do anything with them and I have no idea how to even activate my powers. Like, should we even do this anymore?" She rolled her eyes, and leaned on her arm, staring down the blond.

"You have a gift man. Why are you so uncertain about it? Look, all we know is that you saved both me and my father by blasting him away in a gust of wind. That totally has to be your origin story. Intense emotions and what-not usually can activate latent powers." It was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes, crossing his arms and looking away from the brunette.

"This isn't a comic, Ayame. I'm not sure how these powers work, but I doubt that had anything to do with it." She quickly grabbed his hand, making his face turn bright red. A girl's never held his hand before. "W-what are you d-doing?"

"Let's go. The restaurant is tame right now. Let's go out back and see if can't make some gusts. Now move it!" She jumped from the booth, taking the blond with her. As they passed the main counter to the shop, she whistled and gestured to the table she had just been sitting at to a red haired girl at the counter. "Table service please!" With that, she walked out of view into the back of the house with Naruto. The girl let out a sigh.

"I hate this place."

* * *

"Go wind go!" Naruto was facing a brick wall near the back of Ichiraku Ramen, his hand open and palm facing the wall. Nothing happened and he pulled his hand back before shoving it forward once again. "Wind attack!" A few seconds passed and nothing happened, making the blond boy growl in anger. Behind him, Ayame started to giggle slightly, sitting behind him on the steps that lead to the back door. He turned back to her, anger on his face.

"Stop laughing at me, this was your idea!" Her giggling intensified at the blond as she shook her head.

"Haha no no no haha! I'm just imagining you, haha, fighting crime! And you yell out 'GO WIND GO' to stop them!" Her giggling had turned to full blown laughter, making his face drop in annoyance.

"I'm doing my best damnnit."

"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry!" She stifled some of her giggling, trying not to let it out anymore. "Proceed with your magic sir." He shot her one last look of annoyance before turning back towards the wall, clutching his right wrist with his left. His hand opened again, palm facing the wall. He took a heavy breath and tried to focus once more, now that the background noise was gone.

 _C'mon Naruto. Focus! Find the power!_ He was straining himself, thinking about his powers in his head. He swore he could almost feel the wind swirling around him, but he couldn't pull it out of himself. Breathing heavily, he felt himself reach for the wind, but the farther he pushed towards it, the farther away it found itself from him. Eventually, he almost gave up chasing the wind when he heard the sudden shock in Ayame's voice.

"Naruto, holy crap!" He quickly turned back towards her, the jolt from her voice knocking him out of his concentration. Only he couldn't see her; all he could see was the barren roof of the Ichiraku Ramen building. Confused, he looked down to see Ayame staring up at him, almost 6 meters below him. His eyes widened in confusion, seeing the wind quickly swirl around his feet. Ayame shouted something towards him, but all he could hear was the loud sound of the wind. In almost the same instant, the wind stopped swirling, sending him soaring down towards the ground. He felt darkness overtake his mind almost immediately, until he heard the worried voice of Ayame.

"Naruto! Naruto! Wake up!" He groaned, opening his eyes slowly, brightness overtaking them. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to see the worried expression on her face.

"Hey there… How are you doing?" She smiled slightly, seeing he was okay before swiftly punching his shoulder, making him yelp. "Ow! What the hell!"

"Don't you ever, and I mean EVER, make me worry like that again!" She hissed out, letting go of the blond, making him slide out of her lap with an 'oof!'

"Well, at least we found out you can use your powers. Though flying up in the air and crashing down is kind of a crappy use of them." He picked himself up, dusting all the dirt and gravel off himself.

"That wasn't the plan. I was trying to shoot some wind out of my hand, but the next thing I knew was I heard you yelling and my ears were covered with the sound of wind and I was way up." She nodded, a hand on her chin in thought.

"Yeah, you're going to have to work on the sound thing. It was like a jet was flying overhead. Luckily, no one came to check it out. They probably thought it was just that. Also yeah, the suddenly flying thing is a problem also." He rolled his eyes, rubbing his wrist with his hand. Despite what had happened, it did confirm one thing; it wasn't a freak accident that saved Ayame and Teuchi. It really was him. He really did have powers. A smile came to his face, one that didn't slip by Ayame.

"What are you all happy about?" He turned to face her, small tears in his eyes.

"I have powers. I really do!" Suddenly, he jumped forward, hugging the brunette with all his might, making her laugh and hug him back with the same force.

* * *

"And why again do you have this footage?" An old man in his 50's was sitting in a room full of screens, a skeptical look on his face. He wore the familiar police officers uniform, denoting his status as a security officer for the Konoha Hospital. In front of him, Iruka was looking slightly nervous, while Anko was triumphantly holding her flash drive in front of him.

"I told you already man. Thanks to executive order 66 from the KCPD, we were able to place a camera in the room with a known terrorist." The man looked at her, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"I was a member of the Konoha City Police for over 20 years and I don't have any knowledge about any order 66." She rolled her eyes, placing her arms at her hips, a sneer on her face.

"Yeah, well we are both detectives, and you're a security guard at a hospital. Things change don't they?" He started to growl, Anko feeling the growl coming from her own throat as well, until Iruka placed his hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

"I'm sorry for her, Mr. Rōjin. She's a bit eccentric sometimes. Could we please just go over this footage? It is the best lead we have at catching Mr. Miki's killer." After a few seconds, the old man let out a sigh.

"Alright fine. Gimme the flash drive. And keep your pet on her leash." Iruka snatched the flash drive from Anko before she had time to shoot of a rude retort and gave her a dirty look before handing the drive to Mr. Rōjin. The footage loaded up to a grayscale picture of the hospital room from earlier, only Hisayoshi Miki was relaxing, apparently just getting his medicine.

"Alright there is Hisayoshi. Now where is that bastard?" Anko leaned forward, resting her arms on the guards desk as she watched the footage intently. Say what you want about her attitude, Anko really took her job as a detective seriously. They watched the camera until there a small camera glitch and they saw a man walking in, his back towards the camera.

"Ha! We got the son of a bitch!" Anko triumphantly rose her fist in excitement, but Iruka placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's someones back. They match Mizuki's description, with the silver hair, but we can't confirm that is actually Mizuki." He sounded somber, killing Anko's mood. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the footage. It appeared that Hisayoshi and Mizuki were talking when the man suddenly drove a knife into Hisayoshi's chest and covered his mouth. Anko let out a growl at the sight.

"Aaand we got murder." Iruka looked unsettled but watched the screen again, seeing the pain in Hisayoshi's eyes before they rolled over and he stopped moving. The man rose off him, pulling the knife out of his body. After a few seconds the man started to turn around. Leaning towards the screen, Anko could feel the excitement of seeing Mizuki's face rush to her face. Before the man fully turned around, the camera glitched once more and the man was gone.

"W-what?" Iruka looked flabbergasted, turning towards Anko in disbelief. "He tampered with the camera?" She shook her head, hatred seething in her eyes.

"That's impossible! It was so well hidden! He couldn't have! Rōjin! Can we look at the other cameras around the same time, to see what could have happened?" Normally, the old man would be annoyed and forced the two detectives out, but now he himself was curious. He scrolled though the camera, looking for that exact moment. Using the outside camera's, everything looked the same. The nurses were standing at their station, doing what seemed to be paperwork when the camera glitched once more.

"Did he tamper with every camera on his way in? That's insane." He turned to Anko once more, who had her eyes intently on the screen. After what seemed like hours, she turned towards the security guard again.

"Please rewind it to before the glitch." Noticing how her tone changed in demeanor, he happily rewound the footage. She stared again, noticing all the details as the camera fizzed again in static.

"Anko, what are you doing? He messed with them. This won't help us at-"

"Shush please. Once more, Mr. Rōjin?" He nodded to her, winding the footage back. Once again, she ignored Iruka and stared at the camera until the static came back once again.

"It's not tampered with. I don't know how he got through though." Iruka looked confusing, placing a hand on his chin.

"What do you mean? You saw the static there." She looked back to him, biting the inside of her cheek in thought.

"The static is something he is doing, yes. But it's not erasing or replacing footage. Look at all the people in the background. The nurses are doing the same exact thing once the static ends. It's as if someone just placed static on the footage." He crossed his arms, closing his eyes to process this information as well.

"Yeah, that could be true, but criminals do that a lot. If they are smart enough to, they loop footage in order to move in undetected. He could have added his own film as he snuck in."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. But look at this nurse in the back." She pressed her finger to the screen, pointing towards a nurse that was talking to a doctor. Her back was towards the camera, while the doctor was facing the camera. Iruka looked at the footage, then back to her with a confused expression. "She was facing forward as the glitch happened. The doctor here calls her and she starts turning. The glitch hits and she's still turning around. He couldn't have looped the footage so perfectly that he caught the exact moment she turned and when she talked to the doctor. And if we look at when the glitch happens when he walks out, the woman is gone. Basically, looped footage doesn't work if you have lots of kinetic factors. These are all people, You can't really loop them perfectly."

"So what do you think happened then?" She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Well, you're gonna hate me. The only logically answer I can honestly think is that he's causing them to glitch out for a second and he moves while the glitch is active." Iruka didn't seem convinced and she let out a sheepish half smile and shrugged. "I told you you were gonna hate me."

"But that would mean he's traveling super-fast. Are you trying to say Mizuki is the Flash?" Anko rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Don't be a dick. No, I'm not saying that. I really don't know what I'm saying, if I'm honest. What I want to do though," she turned to face the Mr. Rōjin, who was listening intently. "I want to comb through the footage, locating all instances of the glitch. We need to see where he exited the building. Hopefully we can catch a glimpse of him and use it." The man nodded, now glad to help this interesting case. Iruka nodded and turned towards the door.

"While you two do that, I'm gonna get a drink of tea. Want anything?"

* * *

"She really expects me to go and get her dango in the middle of this?" He heard the thunk of his tea falling out of the vending machine and bent down to reach the drink.

"'This could take hours!' Yeah right, Anko." He laughed a little to himself. Sometimes, he was with her so much that he never had time to vent out his few frustrations about her attitude. Deciding he spent enough time away, he walked back to the security room as Anko slammed her fist on the control panel, angering Mr. Rōjin.

"Hey hey, don't be breaking my equipment, lady!" She turned back to him, venom in her eyes when she noticed Iruka standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised in a quizzical fashion.

"We got nothing! All we have is him entering a car, but nothing with his face and no license plate or anything!" He looked up at the footage to see the man entering what looked like a black limo in the parking lot. He frowned a little, watching the man drive away, but a gasp escaped as the footage ended.

"Wait, look!" He pointed towards the screen and turned to the old man. "Please rewind it a little." Following the rewind, Iruka shouted. "Stop now!" Anko look." She saw Iruka's fingers placed on the driver window, which had just lowered a little to show a bald and angry man, just above his chin. She looked at him weird.

"What. It's a bald guy. Could be anyone." He chuckled a little, shaking his head.

"No no, it's not! I know this guy. His name is Sotatsu Murayama! I recognize him from my officer days. I once got him running some small time drug operation. Selling unused pharmacy drugs, I believe." Anko's face rose, her smile as wide as her whole face.

"Are you telling me we have a lead?" He nodded, a giant smile on his face as well.

"Give me a day or two. I can run this through some old informants, see if I can get a bead on this guy. But yeah. Yeah Anko, we got a lead on Mizuki."

* * *

Kushina Uzumaki was quietly humming a song to herself, listening the to the TV in the background. She was washing some dishes, feeling that she put them off long enough when she heard the door to her house unlock and open. She glanced at the clock to see that it was almost 11 P.M.

"You're home pretty late. What took you so-" Kushina Uzumaki walked out of the kitchen to see her son standing there, his t-shirt and jeans bundled up in a ball in his hands. Instead of his casual clothes, he was wearing a white robe, with a blue apron tied around his waist. His eyes had black rings around them and he was wearing a small chefs hat on the top of his head. She stood silent for a few seconds, before she turned back towards the kitchen.

"I said go hang out with your girlfriend, not get a job." He let out a groan in response before taking a few steps and stumbling onto the couch. "I guess it's nice she got you a job though. Not like you needed one though." She groaned once again, making her nod and place the dish on her dry rack.

"Don't give me that. I always give you the best allowance I can. Don't be greedy." From the couch, another groan slipped out of the blonds lips, making Kushina gasp.

"That was 7 years ago! You were only 10 at the time. I'm sorry I couldn't get you all those fancy toys, but you would have just broken them!" Another groan. "Don't you dare insinuate I didn't care." Another groan from the living room. "Yeah and you saw what happened right? He was never adopted." Naruto couldn't take it anymore and he let a laugh escape his tired lips.

"You're such a weird one, mom." She smirked, walking in the living room and resting against the doorway.

"Yeah. I'M the weird one. Totally." She expected a wise response from her son, but all she heard was the sound of a faint snore, making her shake her head. "That's what I thought. Step up, kid." She chuckled to herself, turning to grab a blanket for her son.

* * *

"You look like death."

"He was shot a little bit ago. He probably still feels that, Choji." Naruto was sitting at his desk, his head on his table and his eyes looking like death. In front of him, a rather large student was looking at him intently. Next to him, was a tall slender man with a black ponytail that resembled a pineapple. Both of them wore the standard school uniform that Naruto wore.

"I'm fine. I just got a new job. It's kinda taking its toll on me, but I'll be fine." He chuckled slightly, making the pineapple haired one raise an eyebrow.

"You just got out of the hospital a day or two ago. Are you sure that's wise?" Next to him, the larger one let out a belting laugh.

"You really amaze me Naruto! You see that Shikamaru? Naruto's awesome!" The pineapple haired one, Shikamaru, sighed, taking a sip of the drink in his hand.

"I guess so. Just don't overwork yourself and tear open a wound or something." He let out a small chuckle, thinking about the scar on his chest.

"Yeah, don't worry about that."

* * *

"Finally." Naruto sat out in the middle of the courtyard, grinning heavily as he opened his ramen. He and his mom had a deal where every other week, the other would prepare all the ramen for their lunches for the week. This week was his moms and she had made him some extra delicious miso ramen. As he cracked open his chopsticks, ready to dive in, he heard some obnoxious laughter near him. Looking up from his food, he saw three girls he recognized from his class giggling. They noticed him look towards them and they all quickly looked away from him. He felt a scowl start to develop on his face, so he turned back to his food, not wanting to hear the girls.

"Yeah so apparently, he saved some girl and her dad from a mugger or something."

"What him? Yeah right! He would never want to save someone other than himself. If he did, he probably did it for attention!" The girls let out another laugh, as Naruto felt himself tremble slightly.

"If you ask me, he probably staged it! He's such an attention whore, he probably called his buddy to mug them and he got to save the day and now he looks like some hero."

"As if it would work. We all still know he's nothing but a stupid selfish attention-seeking brat!" At this, he couldn't take it anymore. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the girls and their laughs. He was breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down. Why did they hate him so much? He only fought because no one else would ever help the underclassman. All he did was want to help the people that couldn't help themselves. He clenched his fist in anger, opening his eyes to see the girls. As he glared at them, he felt the wind suddenly pick up behind him, a burst of it flying towards them.

In an instant, all their food flew towards them, covering them in their lunches and making them exclaim in disgust. Quickly getting his bearings, Naruto's eyes widened and the wind halted, but the damage was already done. They stood there in anger, food all over their uniforms and their papers and bags strewn about. He quickly went red to the face, and jumped to go help them pick up all the books.

"Here let me help you guys! That wind was crazy!" He chuckled nervously, kneeling down to pick up their papers, so he didn't see the look of disgust in their eyes

"We can get them ourselves! Get away Uzumaki! Ugh!" He pursed his lips in annoyance, but he lift his hands up in defense and rose up.

"Alright, sure. No problem." He stepped away and turned away from them, heading back to his bench and food. He was upset at himself for losing control there and decided to take his food and leave. He needed a small break from Konoha High.

* * *

He let out a sigh, walking down the streets of Konoha City. He decided to ditch school, just for a little bit. He wanted to let his mind relax and not think about all those people.

For some reason, they always hated him. He went to school with mostly everyone there sicne elementary school, so he was never able to get a fresh start. His mom had asked him about transferring to a different school, but he always wanted to see if he could make a dent with them. He had some friends there, like Sasuke, Choji and Shikamaru, but he also had so many that disliked him, like Ino and Kiba. There were also the ones that were indifferent and didn't really talk to him, like Shino and Hinata. He couldn't help but also think of Sakura, who he had a huge crush on. She always ignored him, but she was never blatantly rude to him like Ino was.

He sighed, thinking about how he was lamenting on his life as if he was an elderly man.

"Calm down a bit Uzumaki. Things are gonna be fine." Walking down the street, he heard a small scream towards one of the alleys. Confused, he peaked over the alley to see 3 guys standing menacingly, all wearing black leather jackets with tears in them. A fourth guy was laughing and holding up a smaller man by the collar of his shirt, pressing him against the wall. Near him, another guy and two girls were on the floor, looking up at the menacing guys.

"I'm a simple man, I tell you. I jus want everything you have. That ain't too hard ta understand, ain't it, Kyoichi?" The one holding up the man looked back towards his buddy, who nodded in agreement. He looked back at the man and gestured to his buddy. "He gets it." Watching this unfold, Naruto let out a sigh in defeat. Why was he always in the center of all the crime in this town? He reached down in his pocket, looking for his phone when he heard the girl speak up.

"P-p-please. W-we are sorry! Y-you c-can have it all!" She was stuttered badly, shaking in fear from the guy. He looked down to her, a smirk on his face.

"Believe me honey," he let his tongue out to trace along his lips. "We are gonna get everythin'. But I wassn't talkin' to you." Before anyone could react, he reeled back his foot and slammed it into the girls chest, making her fall back, coughing up some blood. The other girl and boy on the floor started to shake, fear in there eyes. The one in the mans arms started to squirm, and angry expression on his face.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" He looked back to the man in his hand, a crazed smirk now on his face.

"Kill you say? Well, why didn't ya say so?" His free hand dug into his pocket and it came out, now with a faint glow from the bronze. The guy immediately stopped squirming, eyeing the brass knuckles now in his face. Behind the corner, Naruto was shaking in rage, his eyes towards the ground.

 _Those… Those bastards!,_ he looked up, rage in his eyes making them look almost red. Instantly, he turned towards the store next him and rushed in. Looking around, he quickly saw hoodies and shirts in the back. Running to them, he grabbed a hoodie, slid it out and grabbed a plain white mask near him. It looks like a blank white face, but it would have to do. Placing it on his face, he looked in the mirror they had. The hoodie covered all his hair, while the mask hid everything but his sea blue eyes.

Nodding, he turned and slammed some money on the counter and rushed back out. From the back, a man peaked out, surprise on his face. He looked down to see the yen on his counter and shrugged, walking back to the back of his shop.

Outside, the man was smirking, about to strike down the man when a huge gust of wind flew towards him, smacking him away from the group and making him drop the man. Now all alert, the three guys turned towards the source of the wind, only to see a hooded figure with malice in his eyes. One of the guys looked to the floor and turned to the rest.

"He knocked Keiji out cold man." He rose up from his friends side, aiming his fists towards Naruto.

"I don't know who you are and how you did that, but you're messing with the wrong crowd buddy." The three remaining thugs all glared down at Naruto, who took a few steps before getting in his normal fighting stance, his legs shoulder length apart, one in front and one behind, his arms in front of his face, ready to strike.

"All I see is trash that needs to be taken out." In his anger, the wind around him started to swirl around slightly.

* * *

 **Episode 3 is here. I can apologize again for the wait, but let's be real. I'm devoting time out of every week day (since my weekends are completely busy) in order to write for at least 2-3 hours, so hopefully that will help. If I'm honest, I have the plot written, but this story was at 5 pages for the last month or so. Now that I'm devoting time to actually writing every weekday, I was able to power out 10 pages in 2 days. So hopefully we can keep that streak up.**

 **Until next time!**


	4. Episode 4: Even Heroes Need Friends!

**This little section is for comments for me to address:**

* * *

 **RaphDaSwordsman: Yeah it was a Star Wars reference. There will be pairings, but not for a little bit. Focusing on the hero aspect for a few.**

* * *

 **Hi y'all. No real update this time. Other than the fact that I'm a liar and haven't been writing. I know. I'm a jerk. Sorry y'all. I'd promise I'd update faster, but we all know that's probably a lie.**

 **Another update since I wrote the above like 3 months ago. I've been a shitty place lately and kind of stayed away from writing. Everything has just been too much lately and I've been cutting myself off of everything. I can say I'll try and be better, but we all know how that is gonna go.**

 **Things might be slow, but hey, he's a 17-year-old kid learning he has super powers. He's not Iron Man and he's not Green Arrow and has all these major resources at his disposal, so just keep that in mind.**

 **For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

 **Make sure to smash that mothafreakin' like button so I know you all dig it!**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 4: Even Heroes Needs Friends!**

* * *

"Come on Shozo. I really need you to do me a solid on this one. Thanks man, I really appreciate it. Take care." Iruka hung the phone up on his desk and leaned back, letting out a large sigh.

"How's your manhunt going?" Iruka tilted his head to see Anko sitting on the edge of his desk, rocking her feet and holding a plate of brown colored balls on sticks.

"It's… going, I guess? No one has seen Sotatsu in a while. I have a few more people to call, so I'm hoping they know where he is. It's weird though. Sotatsu was tight knit with this gang back in the day and none of them have seen him. They are probably protecting him or maybe he left and got security from Mizuki?" Anko shrugged, eating one of the dango balls on her stick, making Iruka narrow his eyes. "Great conversation we are having. Glad we could have it.

"Hey, I try and that's all anyone can ask of me." She smirked slightly at Iruka's annoyed expression before eating another ball. Near the desk, Ibiki walked up, an amused half smile on his face.

"Mitarashi. Umino. Have you seen the news?" Anko tilted her head back, looking at the Lieutenant, a dango still in her mouth. "Do you always have to look at my like that?" She stared at him from her upside-down position for a few seconds before swallowing the ball and tilting her head back to facing forward.

"No idea what you're talking about." He groaned, facepalming slightly.

"Anyway, I was referring to this." Pulling out a remote, he pushed a button and the TV above their desk turned on, showing a news article.

"In recent news, it appears Konoha has a new hero on their side," the video changed from a blonde woman talking to a picture of a man in a blue hoodie, wearing a white faceless mask, standing opposite of 3 men. "A man was photographed earlier today fighting and saving several people from what seemed to be an immense mugging." The video changed once more to a brunette girl with tears running down her face.

"It was so traumatic! I thought we were, like, gonna lose our life when this guy just came running down and challenged them! I think he even pushed one away with his mind or something!" The camera changed once more towards the newswoman, with a picture of the masked hero in the corner.

"It is speculated at this time that this is the same person that came to the aid of Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku and Naruto Uzumaki from a notorious criminal several weeks ago. What do you all think? Is this a good thing, that Konoha now has a 'protector?" The TV clicked off and Ibiki turned towards his detectives.

"It appears there IS a wind guy." He looked over to see Anko talking to Iruka, who nodded in agreement.

"How weird is it that he turned the TV on to the right news article at the right second? Because I coulda swore I left that TV on Food Network." He let out a faint growl.

"Are you jokesters even listening to me?" He hissed out, making Anko hold up her hands to him.

"Alright, calm down you big lug. It means we got the truth finally. Some vigilante is out there and he has super powers. Because this city needed more weird stuff in it." His eyes narrowed at Anko, anger apparent. Iruka rolled his eyes at his senior when his phone went off. Looking at Ibiki, he gave an apologetic frown.

"Sorry sir. I need to take this, It's for a case." He answered the phone, walking away as he spoke.

"Mitarashi. I want you and Umino to find this vigilante and bring him in." Anko gave him a confused look, falling into Iruka's unused chair.

"And why do you want him here?"

"We are the law. We have the badges for a reason. I want him arrested and brought here." Anko nodded, seemingly in agreement.

"I agree. How dare he save those kids. The swine." His face morphed into a deeper scowl than usual.

"You know what I mean Mitarashi. We can't let some unregulated and crazy civilian take the law into his hands and decide on how to deliver justice. Something like that is going to send a message that anyone can put on a mask and decide how criminals should be trialed." Anko narrowed her eyes, about to dispute ibiki's claim when Iruka walked back to his desk, his face shining bright.

"Anko! We got a lead on Sotatsu. Someone he used to deal with named Kida Narahiko said that he's seen him in the neighborhood a lot. We should go check it out right away." Looking at Ibiki, she held her tongue before turning to Iruka. Before they could head off, Ibiki called to them.

"We were able to get two of the muggers into custody. I'm about to go in for questioning, so I will keep you updated Mitarashi." He turned to walk away and she rolled her eyes before looking at her partner.

"Nice job with Sotatsu Iruka. Let's head out." She jumped off the desk, stretching her neck. The duo walked out of the police station towards the car and Anko let out a heavy sigh.

"Ibiki wants us to try and capture the vigilante. Saying he's some crazy civie. So we have to keep an eye out for that." Iruka let out a small nod, understanding this was Anko warning him. They didn't talk about it much, but Anko had a real big issue with authority, and she didn't often elaborate. Instead of talking about it, he simply got it in the car, figuring she would say more once they were on the road.

* * *

"Ugh." Naruto Uzumaki plopped down onto the couch of his house, a groan of pain escaping his lips as looking himself up and down. The jacket he has just purchased was a little ripped, while the white mask he had was already torn apart. He didn't expect much from it, as it was only a 500 yen mask made of plastic. He took the jacket off wincing in pain and threw it to the floor. He was thankful his mother was at work, and not witnessing all the damage the three guys had done to him. His arms were covered in discoloration marks, as was his chest and stomach. His arms also had tons of little scratches that were still bleeding slightly.

He sighed, looking down and rubbing his forehead, feeling the swollenness start up on his head and feeling the moist squishiness cover his forehead. He chuckled slightly. After having to escape from both those thugs and the police, he hadn't had a chance to check his face in the mirror yet.

Rising up, he was able to wobble towards a mirror in the bathroom. Looking up at himself, he cringed slightly, unaware he was as beat up as he was. The top left corner of his blond hair was painted red and matted down in the liquid, that dripped down his forehead and down the left side of his face. His right eye was already starting to bruise up from the hits he took there. He could tell with one look that his nose was definitely broken. His mouth was the most normal out of everything, with only a few bruises on his chin and a few cuts around his birthmark scars on his cheeks. While checking out his battle damage, he heard the very faint sound of the front door opening. Quickly, he pulled his phone out to check the time, knowing there was no way his mom could be home already.

"Hello?" He begrudgingly walked out, the pain flaring in his legs. He looked around, seeing no one. "Mom, is that you?" He turned the corner, entering the living room and seeing no one.

"What the hell?" He whispered to himself, confused at the fact that no one was there. He was about to turn around, convincing himself that it was his imagination.

"You should really lock your doors, man." Ayame was right in Naruto's face, making him scream out and fall backwards, hurting his back even more.

"Ah, holy hell that hurts." She smiled at his antics and then took a good look at Naruto and her face quickly morphed into panic.

"Holy crap, what happened to you? You look like you were hit by a truck! I'm so sorry, come here! We need to clean you up!" She bent over, helping the injured blond up and leading him to the nearby bathroom. With his arm over her shoulder, she was able to place him on the toilet seat and quickly started up with a wet rag and grabbing the first aid kit in the bathroom mirror.

"So what happened to you? You already start your hero career and decide to fight against a semi-truck?" He chuckled, wincing as she placed the rag on his head.

"Well if you must know, some guys were mugging some innocent people and I couldn't watch them get tortured. So, I stepped in."

* * *

 **3 Hours Earlier-**

"Get him!" One of the thugs shouted and the other two charged towards the masked Naruto, anger in their faces. The reality of the situation had finally hit Naruto and he braced for the attack from the two guys. The larger one went to strike above him, while the smaller one went to hit him in the stomach. Unaware of how to dodge the hit, he started to jump back, extending his left arm towards them. With a small rustle, a burst of wind shot out of his arm, knocking them away and jettisoning him away.

"The hell was that? Was that the wind?" One growled from the floor as he looked at Naruto, before he felt the hand of the third guy walk up.

"It's that wind guy Mizuki wants. The one that saved the Ichiraku's. I didn't think Hisayoshi was telling the truth about that guy. Mizuki would totally pay top dollar for his head." The man that had shouted cracked his knuckles and glared down at Naruto, while the big guy rose, as well as the smaller man.

"Alright. Kunimichi? Kazuo? We moved up from teaching this brat a lesson, to taking his ass in. No mercy!" The middle sized man that was previously referred to as Kyoichi smirked, pointing towards Naruto. "Let's get him!" Once again, the two men charged, only this time with Kyoichi charging as well.

Naruto let out a grunt as he jumped back once more, trying to put distance between the three men. Sure he fought a lot, but there was a huge difference between three high school punks and three fully grown men. Kyoichi noticed the masked man backing off and stopped his charge, skidding slightly before grabbing the crying brunette by her throat.

"Trying to escape brat? Not uh! You do that and this pretty girlie her is gonna have to see if she can survive wita hole in her throat!" He quickly brandished a knife, placing it under the hand that was holding her throat. The girl started to freeze, tears flowing down her face. The world seemed to stop as Naruto stopped to stare the men down. His involvement has turned this from a simple mugging into what could potentially be a homicide. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned his fighting stance and stood straight up. Kyoichi smiled gleefully.

"Glad we could see eye ta eye. Get him boys!" The bigger man, Kazuo, grinned and charged Naruto. Seeing him, he winced, ready for the pain. Even though he prepared himself for it, he wasn't ready for the amount of fire shooting through his face when the mans big fist connected with him. He felt his nose snap from the pure power and was sent flying back a few feet. He opened his eyes, seeing through a red veil that he could only assume was blood.

"My god Kazuo! I heard that crack from here! Nice one ya big lug!" Kyoichi was cheering for his guys, making Kazuo smile. The smaller guy, Kunimichi walked towards Naruto, a sadistic smile on his face.

"You ain't done already? C'mon! We just started you wind freak!" Winding up, Kunimichi let out a devastating kick towards Naruto's side, making him scream slightly and fly to his side, landing on his face. His body was shaking from the pain. The school bullies had never had this much power to them. Kunimichi walked towards the fallen Naruto. Naruto heard him hacking before felt something wet hit the back of his head.

"Get up. I'm not done with you yet." The pain was flaring through his body, but he had no choice but to rise. Wobbling and shaking, he was able to stand, his mask pushed up against his face. He looked to Kyoichi, seeing him grinning happily. He turned his eyes to see the brunette still frozen in fear. Near her, the blond woman was still on the floor, blood on the edges of her mouth. The man next to her was shaking, apparently too scared to move. He, however, noticed the brunette guy from earlier glaring daggers at the back of Kyoichi's head. Their eyes met for a moment before the man looked towards a piece of 2x4 that was on the ground behind Kyoichi. He looked back to Naruto and they shared a plan from that one look, but Naruto mentally sighed. He would have to take more abuse for this to work.

He took a step forward towards Kyoichi and was quickly met with a swift kick from the mans right knee. He let out a small scream as he fell to his knees and turned his head to see Kunimichi. He heard a shuffle and quickly turned his head to the left just in time to be met with a devastating punch from Kazuo. Naruto's body dropped to the floor with loud thump, exciting Kyoichi more. As he cheered, Kazuo and Kunimichi both started kicking the downed body of Naruto.

"Oh hell yeah! That was so hot!" In his excitement, he released his grip on the girls neck very briefly and they took that moment to spring into action. In a swift motion, the brunette man pulled the girl back, letting her slip from his hands. In surprise, he turned around to see the man with a 2x4 in his hand, swinging it right at his face. Kyoichi sneered and was able to dodge the man's slow swing and went to use the knife on him. From the floor, Naruto's breathing intensified at the sight and he ignored his pain, sticking his hand out.

"NO!" From his open palm, another gust of wind generated, only this was more concentrated and like a ball of wind. It shot out like a bullet, smacking Kyoichi's hand and knocking the knife away from him. In anger, Naruto growled more and what seemed like a pulse of wind shot from his body, sending the two men who were beating him flying into the respective walls of the alley, cracking the brick walls from the impact. Kyoichi's eyes widened as he turned towards the now rising masked man. Naruto turned towards the innocents that were breathing heavily.

"Run now!" Taking his advice, the brunette man helped the brunette girl up, yelling at his friends to come on. Dazed, the two blonds were able to follow the brunette and away from Kyoichi. He reached for the blond girl in a desperate attempt for a hostage when another gust of wind hit his feet, knocking him down and causing him to slam face down into the asphalt. Naruto started walking towards the downed Kyoichi, anger in his eyes.

"What, you ain't gonna run now? Now you's a big man?" Kyoichi spat out to Naruto, angry that all his men were now knocked out. Naruto growled and cracked his knuckles.

"Not a big man. An angry one." He reached down, grabbing the man by the back of his neck and throwing him towards a wall, so he slammed into it with his back. The impact from the wall made Kyoichi groan and fall to his bottom, unable to move from the pain. From a sitting position on the wall, he glared at Naruto before Naruto stomped into his abdomen, making Kyoichi spit out blood over his leg.

"Dirty fighter are ya? Hittin' a man when he's down. You just as much a criminal as we are, I tell you." Naruto glared down at him, sending another kick into the mans stomach.

"I don't beat down innocent people for money!" He roared out, his anger getting the best of him. How dare he say they were the same! Naruto was protecting people! In his rage, he didn't notice the smaller Kunimichi rise, panting slightly. Naruto continued to glare down at the man before hearing the shout of rage behind him. Turning quickly, he blurrily saw Kunimichi before feeling a searing pain in his forehead and a force sending him flying. There was a ringing in his ears and he could open his eyes to see in a red tint.

"Nice one man. Gave him a right good tap on the noggin'." Naruto looked to see the other man dropping a brick from the wall, covered in a red soaked liquid. Naruto struggled to get up before facing another kick from the standing man.

"Stay down you asshole." He muttered out, breathing heavily. From the floor, Kyoichi started to chuckle.

"Looking so intimidating with all that blood over ya mask," he laughed before turning towards Kunimichi. "Help me up asshat." The smaller man turned and helped up the pseudo-leader of their group, who was groaning from the movements.

"How's your back feeling, boss? Able to move?" Kyoichi shot a glare at the smaller man he was currently propped up against.

"I'm gonna feel much betta once I unmask this piece of crap. Screw Mizuki. I'm gonna kill this sonofabitch myself." Naruto was breathing heavily from the ground as he could hear the footsteps from the limping man. He heard the sound of him flipping his knife open and he froze in fear. Was he really about to die already? Had he bitten off more than he could chew and was gonna face the consequences?

"After this, we gotta catch with those idiots from earlier. They gotta learn what happens when they mess with us. Plus I owe that one guy for trying to smack me." Instantly, Naruto's fears at death disappeared and he felt immediate remorse over his own actions. He couldn't let these guys get their way and then go hurt more people. Using the last of his strength, he moved his head forward slowly, his vision now able to see the floor in front him rather than the pure asphalt. He was able to see the feet of Kyoichi directly in front of him.

"I'm gonna enjoy this brat." Without thinking, only knowing he had to get out of this someway, Naruto grit his teeth and felt the wind start to breeze under his chin. With no warning, the wind shot Naruto upward from his laying position, his head skyrocketing up and slamming into Kyoichi's chin with a deafening crack. Kunimichi watched in horror as the masked man jumped up with such speed that he had completely broken his friends jaw. As the mind died down from launching him, he was able to angle his feet so that he landed back on his legs, but he was struggling to stand straight.

"What the hell are you?" Kunimichi took a small step back, watching the scene in horror. Despite the man was barely standing, his clothes were ripped apart and his mask was almost falling apart. He was able to see the hateful eyes of the blond, whose hair was now more red than blond.

"I'm the one that's gonna kick your ass!" He took a shaky step forward, scaring the now alone Kunimichi. Before anything else could happen, the quick flare of a siren and the appearance of a car from one alley's entrance startled them both.

"Oh crap!" Kunimichi's exclamation alerted Naruto and he turned to see a brown-haired police officer jump out of his car, his gun already aimed.

"Get on the ground!" Naruto sighed in relief, relaxing slightly.

"Took you guys long enough. I was able to stop the other guys. He's the only one left." Kunimichi quickly took off towards the end of the alley, running through the escaped part. Naruto noticed this and took a heavy step towards the running man when he heard the sound of a gun cocking.

"I said get on the damn ground!" Naruto turned back, shock wide in his eyes.

"What are you doing? You're letting him get away! I'm the good guy here!" The officer chose to ignore Naruto's words, instead just leveling a stare at him. He grit his teeth, knowing full well that Kunimichi was going to get away. He should have expected this to happen, as he was a masked person covered in blood fighting someone.

"I won't say it again. Get on the ground now or I will use lethal force!" He could barely move with all his injuries, how was he supposed to get out of this predicament? He could try and use his wind powers to move before a bullet hit him, but it was still unpredictable if his powers would actually go off. He decided he had no choice.

"Okay okay, I will." He turned to face the officer, slowly rising his hands. When they hit a point that they were aligned with his chest, he felt a short breeze start to form.

' _Good. They are actually kind of listening now.'_ He let out a huge gust from his palms, making the officer quickly cover his eyes. The wind propelled him away, heading in the same direction Kunimichi took off in. Getting his bearings, the officer looked back at the bruised blonde and let out a bullet. In what seemed like slow motion, Naruto saw the bullet travel towards him, much faster than how fast his powers carried him. In an almost instinct-like pattern, he tilted his body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the shot.

"Crap!" He felt the wind die down around him, causing him to fall to the ground. He was able to put a great distance between himself and the cop, but that sure wasn't going to stop the officer. With his heart pumping incredibly fast, he was able to ignore the pain and took off towards the adjacent road, seemingly moving faster than he's ever moved before.

* * *

"And that's pretty much it. Everyone was too scared to stop some masked bloody man, I guess?" Ayame nodded, her eyes closed in thought. Naruto was now holding the rag from earlier, patting the small blotches of blood that remained in his hair. After a few moments of silence, Ayame finally spoke up.

"I thought you knew how to fight though?" He frowned, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Yes, I can fight! But these were three grown men Ayame! I've been in fights in the highschool courtyards, I've never actually taken on some fully developed man." She giggled slightly at him, making him roll his eyes.

"It seems to me that you lied about being able to fight, probably because you wanted to look like a big strong man to me, huh?" She mock flexed, making the blonds face turn red.

"I'm not some master at fighting okay! I'm not Batman!" Ayame pursed her lips at Naruto's words, a finger on her chin in thought.

"Why don't you be?" He turned his body from the couch to see her. She was sitting on a stool near the kitchen's entrance, giving him a huge smile.

"Why don't I be Batman? Well, that's copyright and I don't think I can go around dressed as a bat. All in all, I don't think we could-" Ayame's small giggling turned into full blown laughter, making Naruto stop talking and give her a dirty look. "Ah, you were just making fun of me. Okay."

"No no! Not that!" She chuckled again, rising from the stool. "I meant, why don't you become a master at fighting?" He stopped for a second, pondering that thought. He knew from his engagement with those thugs that he did need more training.

"I guess I never thought about that. But I'd need training and all that. I'm not sure where I could do that." She smirked slightly, sitting down at the couch he was at.

"I know this good gym where they focus on fighting and all that. Luckily, they aren't the pricest gym. Knowing the people that go there, finding someone to train you would be a piece of cake. In fact, I know this one guy that started going there when I was in my third year at Konoha High." Naruto shuffled a little to face her, wincing slightly.

"Oh yeah? Who is he?"

"She's kind of a peculiar guy. His name is-"

* * *

"You can tell someone of Mizuki's crowd would be living here." Anko muttered in distaste, slurping her cup of coffee loudly. Next to her, Iruka was rolling his eyes.

"Anko, don't be rude. It's just an in development neighborhood." She scoffed at that, looking at the buildings that looked completely run down.

"Maybe it's in development because everyone that comes to fix it is shot up. I don't understand why we are here anyway. Cops are shot up on the spot in this area." Iruka chuckled slightly at Anko's words.

"Are you telling me you're the type of cop that avoids certain areas?" She shot a sharp side glance to the man in the passenger seat, who simply sipped his coffee.

"Okay, no. You know that. And I'm also a detective. I don't typically go out until it's a crime scene. It's a bummer, but still." Iruka smiled slightly, knowing Anko had good intentions.

"I know Anko. Okay look here is our guy. Kida Narahiko. He was your typical gang banger. He's gotten a lot cleaner though, so his intel should be solid." He placed his coffee dow, them both looking at an angry looking blond man, who wore his hair straight up and had lots of chains and loose clothes. Anko raised her eyebrow at him.

"He sure looks friendly. Looks like he will love some cops coming up and asking him questions." Iruka gave her a stern look, to which she responded but just looking away and mock whistling.

"Look, just follow my lead, alright?" She gave him a strange look as he opened the door and walked out. Shrugging, she took his lead and followed him towards their guy.

"Kida!" As soon as they were in the middle of the street, Iruka shouted out, startling both Kida and Anko. She gave him a death glare, wondering why in the hell he would reveal two police uniforms were in their turf. To her surprise, Kida simply laughed.

"Well well. It's been awhile Iruka. What are you doing wearing that lame ass suit?" He chuckled but extended his hand, letting the junior detective shake his hand in a fist pound motion.

"Well, you know. Finally got the promotion. It's nice." Kida nodded, looking towards Anko, who was frowning slightly.

"Word. Who's the hottie?" He pointed his thumb at her, giving Iruka a cheeky grin. Anko started to fume, but Iruka was able to diffuse the situation.

"She's my superior Kida. I'm glad to see you, but let's just get to the chase man. Have you seen Sotatsu? All we know is he is working as a driver for Mizuki." Anko once again gave the man a look, wondering why he was so open with a criminal, when Kida surprised her again.

"He's been in and out. He still gots family here, so he tries to visit them when he can. I've only seen him the once or twice since he left for Mizuki's gang. He's not well accepted here, ya feel?" Iruka nodded, taking notes in his notepad when Anko sighed.

"And how do we know this is accurate? This could all be some fake news." Iruka was confused at Anko's suddenly pessimistic attitude and opened his mouth to respond to her when Kida beat her to it.

"Look, we don't trust you either. I don't know you at all. Now Iruka we know. Iruka we trust. This homie was one of the few of those police pigs that helped us out. Besides, this neighborhood hates Mizuki. Man's been trying to get his in on this area for months now." Anko scoffed, crossing her arms.

"No way. Mizuki has control of all the slums, everyone knows that." Kida smirked, giving the woman a look.

"Guess that shows how much attention the KPD pays to gang fights, huh?" She opened her mouth to retort, but quickly shut it, fuming at the, 'am-I-wrong?' look he was giving her. "Anyway, he always heads to that motel down near South Street. That Miki Motel down there. I think it's a one of Mizuki's hideaways, but I can't confirm that for ya. That's all I got for ya man, sorry it ain't much." Iruka put his notepad back into his jacket pocket, smiling.

"You kidding me? That was more than enough. Really appreciate the help Kida. Stay safe man!" The exchanged a fist pound before Kida turned away, walking back towards his apartment complex. He turned to Anko, a smile smirk on his face.

"Guess now we just have to stakeout Miki Motel. Wait and see when Sotatsu gets there?" Anko nodded, still giving Iruka a questionable look. "What?"

"Nothing. Just wondering what is going on here. You're friendly with all these 'law-abiding citizens?'" He rolled his eyes, walking towards the car.

"I helped them out a lot. You might have been joking, but cops don't really come here a lot. If one can come and get respect from them, it's for life. Take care of the little guys, you know?" Anko questioned this briefly, looking at the neglected neighborhood. With one last sigh, she walked to the passenger side of the car.

* * *

"This is the place, huh?" Naruto glanced down at the note in his hand that Ayame had left him. She wrote down the name of the gym, as well as adding a little heart at the end, making the blonde chuckle slightly. Looking back towards the large building in front of him, he indeed confirmed he was at the right place; he was currently standing in front of the Konohagakure Spring Dojo.

"What a weird name..." he muttered to himself, stepping forward. The automatic doors to the dojo sprang open, making him gag slightly as the wave of sweat and musk hit him all at once. Before he started choking, he heard a cheery hello from his right side.

"Hello! Welcome to the Konoha Spring Dojo! What brings you here today sir? Ready to train?" Naruto sent a watery-eyed look towards the garb he was wearing; a tightish orange shirt, as well as a pair of slightly big orange shorts, mismatched heavily with his blue running shoes.

"Uh yeah! I've just never actually gone to a gym before, so... Kinda new to me, ya know?" He let out an embarrassed laugh while the guy simply chuckled, giving Naruto a reassured smile.

"Perfectly fine! Let me give you the tour my friend!" He walked from behind the counter towards the blond. Now that he was closer, he was able to get a better look at the man. He was wearing the uniform of the gym, which seemed to be a simple blue shirt and shorts with the words "Spring of Youth!" across the back of the shirt and the front right. The shirt was meant to be just a simple tee, but it was very form-fitting on the muscular man. Naruto couldn't help but feel like it was intentional.

"This here is the simple weight room! It's where us meatheads like to lift those heavy objects and put them down." True to his words, many people were in the weight room, multiple people wearing headphones and all grunting while they lifted large metal objects. Before he could see anymore, his tour guide had already moved down the hall towards the next large room. "This here is the workout room. You want to do cardio? We got the latest and greatest in treadmills, climbers, anything!" Naruto noticed the people sweating profusely, running on the treadmills. He honestly could have sworn he saw his classmate Ino on the machine with stairs, but they were never good friends, so he didn't want to test his luck.

"Besides all that, we also have some basic machines so you can get out those pull-ups and all that done." The blonde nodded as he followed the man who continued to show him around. Naruto looked in amazement as he saw the haircut station, the massage chairs, the locker room and showers, even the small cafeteria they had!

"Wow this place is pretty great! I never knew gyms had this much stuff in them!" The man chuckled, giving the blonde next to him a smile.

"Most gyms don't. But here at Spring Dojo we try and give everyone the tools they need to succeed. But I haven't even showed you the best part!" Curiously, Naruto popped an eyebrow and followed the man to the biggest room yet, which made him gasp.

In front of them both was a very very large room filled with punching bags and machines that people were hitting. There were small boxing arenas around the room, but what got Naruto's attention the most was the large mat in the center that dipped into the ground slightly. It was a very large mat for fighting that was sanctioned off by poles to prevent anyone from falling in.

"This here is the cream of the crop. This is where the people that are super serious about training and fighters come. For a fighting gym, there is no better than Spring Dojo." Naruto's eye's were shining as he looked at the gym before he quickly turned to the man. I love it! Where do I sign up?"

* * *

"Hyah!" Naruto let out a small shout as he punched the bag, jostling it slightly. He was out of breath already, having been wailing on this bag for over 40 minutes. He had bought his membership to the gym and immediately jumped into the fighting room, as it held pretty much everything he needed for his hero training. He had just wished Ayame had told him more than just seek out this gym. He honestly could of swore she did, but he couldn't think of it for the life of him.

"You've been hogging this bag for forever now. Get out of here brat!" Naruto turned around to see a much larger man than him sneering at him. Sure, the man was large and muscular, but he wasn't about to let some steroid-ridden freak step over him.

"There are other bags. I'm trying to train here." He scoffed, giving Naruto a dark smirk.

"You call that training? You've smacked a bag around. I'm surprised you haven't broken your hands or anything from that weak ass form you have there." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he turned his body fully, now standing in front of the man.

"Listen, I have as much right to anything here as you do. What is your damage dude."

"My damage is that this is my good bag and you've been taking your time not even hitting her properly. It's insulting really." Naruto was about to respond smartly when another large man walked towards the two, looking at them.

"Yo, Satoshi, is this pipsqueak giving you issues?" Naruto turned to the other man, his anger steadily rising.

"Hey, just who the hell do you think you are calling pipsqueak?" The original man, a brunette muscle head, flicked Naruto's forehead, smirking as he did it.

"He's calling you a pipsqueak, you pipsqueak. And yeah Hoshi, he is giving me some issues." The raven-haired muscle head, now revealed as Hoshi, cracked his knuckles in response.

"Well, you know we can't have that, now can we?" They both started descending towards the blonde, who quickly jumped into a fighting stance. Before any action could start, a sharp cough towards Naruto's left distracted everyone. Standing there was a man wearing an average looking green tee, as well as a pair of green shorts. He was wearing normal green running shoes. Besides his normal looking green attire, the man had some of the biggest and bushiest eyebrows Naruto had ever seen, all resting below a well-groomed bowl cut of black hair.

"Satoshi. Hoshi. I see you both are trying to fight in the dojo again and that is very very unyouthful of you." Both men groaned, standing straight and glaring at the newly arrived man.

"Oh buzz off. We are just letting out some steam." The man sighed, crossing his arms.

"Then you must challenge them to the arena. That is the only way fighting is permitted inside the Spring Dojo and you both know this." Satoshi growled, biting his lip slightly.

"Fine. Blonde brat," Naruto leveled a glare at the man. "We challenge you to a duel in the Arena. Let's go." Naruto started to open his mouth, but he was cut off by the bushy-browed man near him.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but he is one of our new members to the gym. He won't be able to compete in any Arena play until he is more situated here. Plus, a straight 2 versus 1 match is most unyouthful." Hoshi slammed his foot down, getting the man's attention.

"Alright listen up! I've had enough of your pompous attitude here! I challenge you to the Arena. Let's go down there and you'll have to sit there and get your ass kicked!" The man looked towards Hoshi before a smile appeared on his face.

"Very well, I accept your Arena challenge! I will face both of you down there! I'm quite excited to see just how well the fruits of our labor have excelled in our youth!" Naruto was visibly sweat dropping at the man and his talk of youth. He suddenly towards Naruto, shocking him slightly. "Is it okay if you stand over there with Oda, Naruto? I will get to you after this spar." Naruto was confused at how the man knew his name, but nodded, walking to the back of the fight room, the man who gave him the tour smiling.

"What a treat. You get to see something amazing!" Now next to him, Naruto leaned against the wall, watching as the bowl-hair man walked to the center of the Arena, standing opposite Satoshi and Hoshi.

"What, is this guy so cocky that he just thinks he can take anyone?" Oda smiled, shaking his head.

"Not cocky, no. Confident. Lee would never intentionally insult anyone like that. But he loves the fight and is always willing to spar and see where we can all improve at." Oda watched with a smile, while Naruto's eyes widened. As soon as Oda marked the man with the name Lee, Naruto remembered exactly what Ayame had told him.

* * *

"So it's some guy you know?" He asked, his eyebrow cocked at the girl. She nodded, unraveling the gauze he had wrapped around his left wrist.

"Yeah. I met him back when I was first going to the gym. I think he was a first year at Konoha High back then. He was a scrawny little kid back then. But nowadays, the guy's a beast!" He winced slightly as her touch left his arm, his bruised body still feeling the blows slightly.

"Well, I guess that'll be good. I'm not to fond of some guy teaching me fighting, but if you recommended him." She smiled at the blonde, her hands now on her hips.

"Oh trust me. Rock Lee would be a great trainer for you. I'm sure you'd love him." Naruto blanched slightly, sticking his tongue out and making the older girl laugh.

"I don't get it though. Why do I have to go myself? Can't you introduce me?" Ayame paused for a moment, a finger on her lips in thought.

"Hmmm. Well, I can't because Lee knows me. If you get training from him and people see a blond-haired wind hero... Well, so many coincidences, suddenly everything is NOT a coincidence." He nodded, understanding her reasoning.

"We don't want to get caught. That is smart. Alright, you got it! I'll visit the gym tomorrow! Rock Lee! I won't forget it!

* * *

"I can't believe I forgot it!" Naruto held his head in his hands, shocked from the embarrassment. "He was the person I was supposed to seek out!"

"Let me guess. You want Lee to train you?" Naruto suddenly looked at Oda, shock on his face.

"Huh? How'd you figure that out, old man?" He suddenly felt a smack against his head, suddenly looking down at the ground.

"WHO YOU ARE CALLING OLD? I'M ONLY 24 AND I'M IN THE PRIME OF MY YOUTH!" Oda shouted out, his face rather large and anime like. Naruto groaned in pain, rubbing the comically large bruise on the top of his head.

"You're not the first," Oda started, pulling Naruto out of his jokes and into full serious mode. "Lot's have asked Lee for training in these last two years. But he hasn't accepted anyone." Naruto looked back towards the man, who was sending a huge smile to him and Oda.

"Why is that?" Oda smirked as he started walking towards the Arena, ready to judge the spar.

"It's obvious. He doesn't have the time to train someone else when he wants to be the strongest." Naruto gave Oda one last look before he turned, now facing Lee and the two meatheads.

"Arena challenge of Rock Lee versus Satoshi and Hoshi. Begin!" Oda threw his hand down, signaling the start of the match.

While it was a spar in Rock Lee's mind, Satoshi and Hoshi didn't share the same sentiment. Almost immediately, the duo rushed towards Lee, evil smirks plastered all over their faces. Satoshi dashed towards Lee, while Hoshi veered towards the left, hoping to catch the man off guard while he dealt with Satoshi. Naruto was slightly shocked at how fast the giant man had closed the distance between them.

"Here we go!" Satoshi sent a closed fist straight towards Lee's face. Instead of looking in fear, Lee's smile from earlier did not falter. With his fingertips pointed upwards, he quickly flipped them downwards and slapped Satoshi's fist away, also side stepping towards his right to avoid the coming punch from Hoshi. It seemed simple, but to Naruto's eyes it almost looked as if Lee had vanished for a second.

"Holy crap that was awesome..." Naruto mumbled, eyes still wide in awe. Oda laughed slightly before turning his attention back towards the fight. The slap from Lee had so much momentum from Satoshi's speed, that the large man was now on the floor from falling flat on his face. Unable to hold his place from his punch, Hoshi had also fallen, only on top of Satoshi this time.

"It was a good effort, but make sure you notice my hand. I was ready for a full frontal assault from the beginning. If they can see that, attacking at the same time could only hurt yourself, but it is a great strategy. This time try going for me and attack as I'm countering one of you, alright?" The men growled, rising up from their embarrassment. To them, it seemed as if Lee was being pompous and telling them about all their faults, but Naruto could hear the genuine tinge in his voice. He truly wanted to help them get better and defeat him.

"He's such a genuine guy." Oda nodded at Naruto's statement, his eyes darting between the blond and the Arena.

"He is. He had such a hard time becoming who he is today. I think he wishes to help everyone be who they want to be." From the Arena, Hoshi rushed towards Lee this time, his fist reeled back.

"We don't need your patronizing attitude, you bastard!" The punch was fast to the untrained eye, but to Lee, it was as if Hoshi was moving through syrup. He was able to quickly duck under the punch and send a quick jab of his own towards the gut of Hoshi, making him shout in pain. Suddenly, Lee's eyes darted to his side, him barely seeing the form of Satoshi come from behind. Almost instantly, his fist left the gut of Hoshi, and was dropped to the floor. Using his arm as a pillar of support, he raised his right leg up, dodging the side-sweep from Satoshi. Placing his right foot back on the ground after the danger passed, he pushed off with his right leg, able to send a spinning kick towards Satoshi's chest. Satoshi was sent flying towards the Arena edge before falling on his face. Lee rose up, one arm behind his back while his right was in it's familiar upward finger-tip pose it's been in all match.

"Hoshi, you need to work well with Satoshi. It was honestly really close there. I truly felt the pressure there Satoshi. More stuff like that and I won't be able to defend properly." Grunting in pain, Satoshi looked up with a scowl. He hated to admit it, but Lee was very strong and his kick did a lot of damage.

"You win Lee. I'm out." Satoshi grumbled out, clutching his chest in pain. Lee sighed but relaxed his pose.

"A shame, but I understand. It was an honorably battle Satoshi." He still felt an anger towards the blonde that he originally wanted to fight, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. From behind Lee, Hoshi rose, his anger rising.

"I never said I give. This ain't over until it's over!" He roared out, charging the relaxed Lee. He slowly turned towards the man when his eyes widened. Everyone currently watching was able to see the shiny glow of brass knuckles now atop Hoshi's hands. He quickly went for a flurry of uncoordinated punches towards Lee's face, who's initial shock as gone and was simply weaving through the punches.

"Why! Won't! You! Stay Still!?" Hoshi screamed out, his rage skyrocketing as Lee simply dodged the punches. With a sigh, Lee looked him dead in the eye.

"You forced me to no longer hold back. I am truly sorry for this Hoshi." As soon as the words left Lee's mouth, he seemingly vanished again. Hoshi wasn't aware where Lee was until he felt a stinging on his cheek and was suddenly sent flying from his position. Lee stoof in front of him, his fist extended. Hoshi rose to his feet, not ready to lose yet, but Lee was already on him. He was unable to dodge as the bowl-haired boy sent punch after punch into the man's body, wailing down on him hard. Hoshi's skin was starting to redden and bruise badly before Lee stopped, a disappointed look on his face.

"You have used a weapon and attempted the most unyouthful of wins on an opponent and let your rage take the better of you on a simple friendly spar. Please don't return to Spring Dojo until you are able to work that out." With that, Lee twirled forward, letting out a dangerous roundhouse kick to Hoshi's chest, sending him crashing into the Arena pole. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground. Lee sighed before straightening his pose and looked to Oda, who was frowning.

"Lee, you gotta stop giving chances. You understand that once he pulls out a weapon, there is nothing to be said. He's out of the gym for good." Lee simply shook his hand towards the man, making his eyebrow twitch slightly.

"They learn the error of their ways. I don't wish to penalize him for thinking wrong. He can learn from his mistakes and that is how we grow, is it not?" Oda sighed and simply laughed shaking his head. Naruto watched this exchange, still mesmerized at Lee's actions.

 _'With ease, he defeated two grown men. Granted there wasn't a third or hostages or even a freakin' knife! But still. He's so powerful.'_ Lee walked out of the Arena and towards the blond, his familiar and safe aura back.

"Sorry about all that commotion. You know how it can get sometimes."

"Train me!" Naruto blurted out, his hands shaking in anticipation. Oda facepalmed at the interaction, wondering if the blond had forgotten literally everything he had just told him. Lee let our a surprised blink in his moment of silence before he laughed.

"Ayame did tell me you would probably just blurt out that. I'm sure Oda has told you already I don't take up students? I'm a student myself, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to teach others." Naruto shook his head, refusing to take no for an answer.

"No way! You're definitely more that qualified to teach! You took two grown men down almost instantly! Come on Lee! I'll be the best student ever! I'll do whatever you tell me to do!" Lee looked at Naruto's pleading face and remembered Ayame's words when she had called him earlier.

'He is desperate. He'll do whatever you say. Trust me. If you want to have a really good training partner, as soon as you get him in shape, it'll be him!' He chuckled, thinking about how accurate Ayame might have been with her statement. He really wanted a new sparring partner, but no one was able to match him physically. Maybe it was time to get someone that could maybe keep up with him?

"Alright, fine Naruto. But listen. You will do everything I say. You will meet at the gym immediately after your classes are done for the day. We will have an intense regiment to work on every day. We will take things slow on Saturday's and Sunday will be a rest day, is that alright?" Naruto nodded, just happy that Lee was willing to take him in. "We can work on a diet plan that will work for you soon."

"As long as I can eat my ramen, I'm a-okay!" Lee coughed slightly, giving the blond and apologetic look, making all color drain from his face. "Oh no way, are you serious?! I can't give up my ramen!"

"You did say anything Naruto..." Lee gently reminded him, who starting to comically sob. "But for now, we need to work out! We have to make up for lost time! I'll show you this regiment I use!" Lee gestured towards the machines, signaling the blond to follow him.

* * *

Naruto and Lee walked out of the Spring Dojo together, a smile on one's face and a frown on the other's.

"What a great day! You did excellent Naruto! I can't wait to see you tomorrow for our next days training! I shall see you then!" Naruto waved towards the boy, a weak smile on his face. Lee returned the wave with much more enthusiasm before taking off in the opposite direction of Naruto's. With his trainer gone, Naruto let out the sigh he was holding and groaned, barely able to keep himself standing.

"That was brutal. He does that every day? Jeez..." Naruto started to slowly walk towards his house again, taking one last look at the gym, which was now closed until tomorrow. He turned to face his front again, looking at the city in front of him that was still very much alive. He looked down at his hand and slowly clenched it.

"I won't stop. Not until I save this city!" While Naruto was feeling the fruits of his labor might some come to fruition, a silver-haired man sat with a glare. He was watching the TV in his nice-looking room, gently sipping a drink that was atop a mini table. The TV was displaying the news article about the vigilante once more.

"Wind guy, huh?" Mizuki asked himself, a deadly smirk placing itself on his face.

"Can't wait to kill that guy."

* * *

 **There is episode 4. Don't really have much to say about that. Hope you all enjoy. I try writing in my free time now at work, so hopefully updates will be faster and more consistant, but then again, how many times have I said that, right? I'm terrible at sticking to a schedule. I'll try my best for y'all, but life always has other plans.**

 **Anyway, please Read, Review, subscribe, whatever it is you want to do, you do it. I guess it would be follow and favorite huh? Well, you also do that.**

 **See you lovelies next episode!**


	5. Episode 5: Tempest!

**Small Trigger Warning for this chapter:**

 **There is some violence against women that can be considered triggering towards victims of assault and sexual assault. I'll place a warning around the part because I don't want anyone to get triggered. I'll write a small explanation on what happened at that part for the readers that aren't able to read that part.**

* * *

 **For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 5: Tempest!**

* * *

"Good one Naruto! You've been able to improve so much!" Rock Lee shouted out some words of encouragement to the exhausted blond. He was panting heavily, having just dodged a wide array of Lee's hits.

"I'm not good enough yet Lee. You're still holding back on me." Naruto wheezed out, wiping some blood from his lower lip. Lee frowned at him, straightening his position.

"I have to Naruto. We need to get you up to speed before we can actually spar on that level. Believe me though Naruto! I'm so excited for the day we can do that!" Naruto sighed, standing up slightly. He wanted to get strong this second, but he knew Lee was right. It would take a while, and he was disappointed in that, but he was already feeling stronger from the few weeks he spent with Lee.

"Yeah, you're right Lee. Sorry. I think I'm just anxious. You are so amazing and it just makes me want to get to that level." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"I appreciate that Naruto, but jealously is not good. I understand you wish to get strong, but it took me three years of strict training to get where I am today." Naruto bit his lip slightly. He did admit, he was a little jealous of Lee, but it was very small. Most of what was fueling him was determination. He was determined to get a handle and find his own style. If he couldn't beat a couple of Mizuki's goons, what hopes did he have of taking down the crime boss?

"You're right Lee. I'm sorry. You want to get back to it?" Lee let out a huge smile, saluting the blond.

"Yosh!"

* * *

As the sun was starting to rise, Lee and Naruto walked out of the gym. Despite their plan of having Sunday's as a day off, Naruto had begged Lee to train and they decided to start doing early morning workouts every day. Naruto thought the bowl-headed teen would have been annoyed about the request, but it made Lee much happier. His determination and will in his training hit Lee with an immeasurable sense of pride. He was truly glad he took on Naruto as a student.

"Alright Naruto! I will see you tomorrow after classes, right?" Naruto nodded, glancing at the cell phone in his hand, seeing a text from Ayame light it up.

"Course! Thank you again Lee!" They both bowed to each other before parting ways, each heading to their respective houses. Naruto was wondering exactly why Ayame had text him so early in the morning, but it must have been crucial. He was going to skip going home to shower for this.

* * *

"Jeez, you reek!" Ayame shouted out as she opened the back door to Ichiraku, quickly letting go to plug her nose. Naruto gave her a dirty look, grabbing hold of the metal door before it had a chance to close on him.

"You said it was important. I didn't shower for this! Why did you call me here at seven in the morning?" She rolled her eyes, still plugging her nose.

"Not showering. That's how you get the girls," she didn't notice the faint blush on the blond's face as he looked away, wearing a small scowl. "Something happened." She stopped holding her nose and her look of disgust vanished, telling Naruto this was serious. Despite all the dirty looks he gave her and how much she mocked him, they both knew how to tell when things were serious.

"What's going on?" She gestured for the blond to follow him towards the restaurant's break room, so they weren't just standing near the trash and the back of house. Ichiraku didn't open until around 9 am, so thankfully no openers would enter the store until at least an hour.

"I was watching the news this morning, which you should start doing also, by the way." She glanced at him from over her shoulder before grabbing a remote that was on the break room table. "This was the news article that was on." Clicking the TV, a news story flickered on with a giant headline that made Naruto's eyes widen: 'Wind Guy gets challenged.' Before he could question it, the news reporter spoke.

"We are still getting details, but the scene is indeed graphic. Earlier this week, we broadcasted a story about a wind vigilante who saved several people from a group of local criminals. It appears this 'Wind Guy' is being directly challenged from these criminals as a body was discovered. Now, we can't show the footage, as it is considered incredibly graphic, but the body of one Kunimichi Inazuma was discovered brutally mutilated. There was a note left over saying, and I quote, 'I'm coming for you next, Wind Guy.' We have reason to believe from the found footage of last week, that Kunimiichi was one of the men that was involved in the original 'Wind Guy' mugging. There will be more on this story later tonight as more information is discovered." She clicked off the TV, a somber look in her face.

"Mizuki is calling you out." She looked at him, his hair covering his face as he looked at the ground. She could see the immense anger in his body language, as well as the clenching of his fists.

"That bastard." Yes, Kunimichi was a scumbag, but he didn't want anyone to die. Now Mizuki is coming after him personally, and he even killed Kunimichi as a message to him. "I'm going to destroy him!" He growled out, his teeth grinding slightly.

"Yes, but how. It's not like you can just bust in his house and kick his ass, you know?" He leveled a hard glare at her, making her flinch slightly. She was used to Naruto's dirty looks, but nothing this hard.

"I know that! But I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Naruto shouted out before slamming his hands on the table. His anger was steadily rising, but there was nothing he could do.

"That's another reason I called you here. I didn't want to just show you some news article." He looked back up from the table, seeing a soft smile from her. Sighing slightly, he let out a heavy breath, trying to relax himself.

"Okay, what's the other reason?" She crossed her arms, looking him up and down.

"You need an outfit. I mean, we can't expect you to fight crime in your school clothes. Or are you going to use some corner store jacket and mask again? We need to get you something that defines you as a hero!" Her hands were in the air now, making her presence very large. Naruto was able to forget the momentary stress and rose an eyebrow at Ayame.

"Okay yeah, I actually was thinking about that earlier. I know some good cosplay websites! They are so expensive though." He muttered to himself, his hands now stroking his chin in thought.

"What? No, you can't just get some cosplay suit! We have to make your suit!" Naruto scoffed, giving the girl a skeptical look.

"Okay, we both know I can't make anything like that. So unless you have some super talent for making outfits, we are stuck." She gave him a mock hurt look before pushing her hand to her chest.

"How dare. I would have you know that I am a master seamstress!" He gave her a blank look before raising an eyebrow. She growled at him, her hands balled into fists. "Okay, I'm new at it, whatever! I have a friend that's teaching me though. I was gonna try and make it with her. Tell her it's some cosplay I'm working on. She typically takes commissions like that. I was going to try and see her today."

"Wait, I don't know what I want it to look like yet!" She smirked at him, a finger on her lips.

"Who said you get to design the suit?"

"What!? It's my suit though! I'm the one wearing it!" She continued to give him her sly look, her hands now crossed as she faced the blond.

"And I'm paying for it, so you get what you get." Naruto started to fume, knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Jeez what is that smell? Is that you Naruto?" From the break room door, Teuchi Ichiraku walked by, holding his nose in disgust and looking at the blond. "I get you want to pull some extra hours, but go home and clean yourself! Come back in at 11 and then you can clock in. See you then Naruto!" Teuchi walked out, heading towards the restaurants office. Naruto looked at Ayame who was trying to stifle her chuckle.

"Guess you're working today!"

* * *

"Is he here yet?"

"No."

"Is he here yet?"

"No."

"Are you sure he isn't here yet?"

"Anko, I swear on everything that is holy. Iruka was glaring daggers at the woman, who was slumped down in her chair, the car seat reclined all the way down, so she was laying down.

"Stakeouts are actually so so so so SO BORING!" She grumbled out, her arms covering her eyes. Iruka rolled his eyes before taking a sip of his water bottle.

"Anko, it's literally been a day since we found out about Sotatsu and the Miki Motel. We haven't even been out here for 3 hours yet."

"Can we just shoot someone instead? That's my forte, not this stakeout crap!" Iruka sighed, leveling a dirty look at the immature woman in the car with him. Every time he was thinking she was an actual responsible adult, she throws him a curve ball.

"That's police brutality Anko. You can't do that. Just wait for Sotatsu." She groaned, obnoxiously loud.

"Why can't we just bust in and talk to Mizuki? I don't understand why I gotta wait for this guy to show up, if he even does!"

"Sometimes I feel like you're the junior detective and not me. Because if we ask for Mizuki once we get in there, he's gonna be alerted and he's going to be long gone. We need Sotatsu to get him because that's his driver and then we can have an actual conversation with the man." Anko let out a sigh, resting her head on the side of the car door.

"This better not take long." She grumbled out in annoyance.

* * *

"It's such a nice day." Ayame was pulled out of her thoughts, blinking in surprise at the lavender-haired girl next to her.

"Huh?" The girl let out a giggle, looking away from Ayame and back towards the trees that where bristling in the wind.

"Today is just a nice day, don't you agree, Ayame?" She looked away, looking at the trees that her friend was looking at.

"It just looks like the park. Honestly, every day is a nice day to you, isn't it Hinata?" The purple haired girl smiled at her friends remark before rising from her seat.

"That's probably true. I'll end up staying here all day, so we better head to the stores soon?" Ayame nodded, jumping up from the seat.

"Probs. We need to get some of that good fabric." Ayame probably could have stayed there for hours also, but for different reasons than her friend Hinata. She did enjoy the nature like Hinata did, really she did! But mostly, her mind was full of wind related items and the suit she wanted to design for Naruto. She had a specific design in mind, but her mind couldn't stop flashing to seeing Naruto beaten up. She shook her head, shuddering off her thoughts.

"Is your friend okay, Miss Hinata?" Ayame suddenly realized she has walked with Hinata towards the end of the park, where their small limo and her driver were waiting. Hinata nodded, a small smile still on her face.

"Yes. Ayame just tends to get very deep in thought, Runa." Hinata's driver, a slightly taller red-headed woman in a suit, nodded with a small purse of her lips.

"Fair enough. Anyway, are you ready to go Miss Hinata, Miss Ayame?" Runa gave them both a smile, which Ayame answered with a sheepish smile. They both packed themselves into the spacious back and while Hinata gave Runa the instructions and address, Ayame took in her scenery.

"Man, it never ceases to amaze all the cool stuff you Hyuga's have." For once, Hinata didn't offer a smile in response to Ayame, and just sat back as Runa rolled the window up, dividing the front and back.

"You know how it is with HyugaTech. We have the latest and greatest." She mumbled out, her voice a small whisper. Having been friends with Hinata for quite some time, she had grown quite accustomed to the girls fabled whisper speak.

"Sounds like an unenthusiastic sales pitch. But it's accurate." Ayame was no stranger to hearing Hinata talk about her father's company. Being a multi-millionaire tech mogul did wonders for you, but it wasnt something Hinata had preferred. In her eyes, all it did was make her sister a spoiled snobby girl, and make her cousin think he was bigger than the world.

"You know how Father is. He want's the latest and greatest in all company vehicles. I got Runa to hold out for as long as she could, but he insisted." Ayame shrugged, leaning back in the leather seats. She didn't like saying it to the lavender-haired girl, but she loved all the fancy technology she had.

"You know, all this stuff is pretty freaking cool though Hinata. Like this is all stuff I never knew I needed. Like who was the one that's like, let's make a foot massager for the car!" She smirked, pointing at the contraption near her feet. Hinata gave her a look, her pale white eyes that signaled her as a full Hyuga staring at the brunette before she smiled slightly, closing said eyes.

"I guess you're right. I can't look a gift horse in the face." Ayame laughed slightly at her analogy, letting her mind wander about the girl. They were great friends, but she always felt Hinata was holding back emotionally. She really wished she didn't.

* * *

"No really Runa, I can get them myself." Hinata basically pleaded her friend and driver, who was currently holding two giant rolls of fabric in her arms, as well as three bags of items in a paper bag, being held by her teeth.

"Nonsense, Miss Hinata! This is no issue for me!" Runa shouted out, running through the main door to the Hyuga mansion. Hinata let out a small sigh, facepalming. Behind her, Ayame was chuckling with her arms crossed.

"Man, I love Runa. She's such a riot." The duo followed Runa, walking into the mansion, only to see a smaller girl almost push past them. She looked like a younger Hinata, only her hair was black instead of lavender, and her face was caked with makeup. She looked at the two with the same pale white eyes that Hinata had.

"Excuse me Hanabi! I didn't mean to bump you!" Hinata exclaimed, bowing slightly to the younger girl. Ayame rolled her eyes subconsciously, giving Hinata's sister a look down. She was certainly not looking how a middle-schooler should look. Thinking almost the same, Hanabi looked at both her sister and Ayame. Hinata was wearing a very modest dress, one that was long and white, down below her knees. She also wore a small purple sweater as her top, one that covered her shoulders. Next to her, Ayame was wearing a simple combo of blue jeans, and an orange top.

"You look like Mom." Hanabi stated, making Hinata stop momentarily. Ayame gave the girl a dirty look. They both know that was not something to bring up. "Anyway, I'm going out with some friends. Be home later." With that, Hanabi bounced out, not noticing the shaking Hinata.

"Hey hey, it's okay. Nothing wrong with that." Hinata tried to breathe in and out, trying to make herself feel better. Her mother wasn't a bad person, she just couldn't help but feel guilty when she was brought up. Luckily, she didn't have to think about it long before she was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Why exactly is Runa running through the house, screaming?" In the doorway to their massive living quarters, a tall man stood with long flowing black hair, that was tied up in a long ponytail. Like Hinata, he too had pale white eyes, but his had what seemed like a blue tint in them. "Oh, hello Ayame. I didn't see you there." Ayame bowed politely to the man. She wasn't one for all the semantics, but she knew she would have to be respectful to her friends father, who was also the CEO of the hugely successful HyugaTech.

"Good Evening, Mr. Hyuga." The man smiled, obviously enjoying the respect he was currently being given.

"Ayame was going to stay a little and help me with a school project, if that is okay, Father?" Her father, who was now identified as Hiashi Hyuga, shrugged at his daughter.

"That is fine with me. Ayame is always welcome here. She's the only one that likes my inventions anyway." He pouted, making the brunette laugh. She didn't notice the frown that Hinata was wearing, but she quickly hid it.

"Okay, we are gonna go to my room and work on it now." He nodded, starting to walk away from the girls.

"Dinner is in 2 hours also. Make sure you're ready when we call you!" The duo nodded before rushing over to catch up with Runa, who was currently smiling, all the fabric on the kitchen island.

"I did it! Ayame smirked, knowing an opportunity has presented itself.

"Sweet! Thanks Runa! Now take it upstairs to Hinata's room." Runa's enthusiastic smile immediately dropped into one of pure despair.

"Ya joshing me, right?" Hinata was silent next to the brunette, who still had an evil expression on her face. "I'm a slave, not a driver, huh?" Ayame started to laugh at Runa, who just started picking everything up.

"You're dismissed Runa." Runa paused for a moment, giving the girl a look. Her normally happy attitude was gone, and in it's place was a fierce determined look. She rarely used her 'Hyuga Heiress' mode, but if she was using it, that must mean she had to do something important.

"You got it. Call me if you need me again." Runa dropped the garments back to the table before giving the Hyuga girl a two fingers salute. Hinata turned towards Ayame, her shy smile back.

"Well, let's build a cosplay suit." Ayame returned her smile with a large grin, excited to finally start up on the suit.

* * *

"Zzzzzzzzzzzz."

"Dobe."

"Zzzzzzzzzzzz."

"Naruto, wake up."

"Zzzzzzzzzzzz."

"Oi, just leave him! If he doesn't want to listen, he can go ahead and get in trouble." A loud voice echoed in his ears, stirring him awake.

"Huh...?" The blond groggily rose his head, drool on his bottom lip. Around him, Sasuke and Kiba were watching him with amusement.

"How is it he never gets caught sleeping? He snores so loud." The same loud voice questioned, now revealing to be held by Naruto's classmate, Kiba Inuzuka. At the desk near Kiba, Sasuke let out a small shrug, as well as a quiet 'Hn'.

"Luck of the draw, I guess." Sasuke answered, his usual unenthusiastic voice present. Kiba rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

"Whatever. It's dumb. I wish I could get away with that!"

"Get away with what, Mr. Inuzuka?" Kiba suddenly froze, slowly turning his head with a slight creak. Behind him, Shizune was glaring down at him with an intense dirty look.

"W-w-what? N-n-n-nothing at a-all, Ms. K-Kato!" He sputtered out, his entire body visibly shaking in fear. She raised an eyebrow at him, making the entire class start to laugh. From his seat, a very tired Naruto chuckled slightly. He caught the quick glance from Shizune and let out a mental sigh. She knew he was sleeping, but she must have held back on him. He truly appreciated it too. After Lee would leave, he would continue training for a couple hours more. Time resumed as normal and class went without a hitch. By the time everyone was dismissed for clubs, Naruto heard his name from his teacher.

"Mr. Uzumaki, could you please stay after class. I need to have a discussion with you." Naruto saw the look in Shizune's eyes, which most took as a stern look, but it was actually her caring look. He gave her a slight nod, sitting back in his seat as they waited for the rest of the class to file out. After a few moments, the class was empty and silent.

"Are you okay, Naruto? You're not the best student, but you never fall asleep in class. Usually it's just daydreaming and all that. Everything alright?" He gave Shizune a comforting smile, rising up from his seat.

"Yeah everythings great Sissy! I've just been studying really hard lately. I don't want to fall behind on my studies, ya know?" It wasn't a complete lie. For some reason, Naruto was always well rested after his workouts with Lee and he did devote some time to studying. It was hard to maintain, since he now had school, training and work to juggle. She gave him a light scoff.

"You? Studying? All night? Please Naruto, don't try to lie to me. I am a teacher after all." He narrowed his eyes at the teacher in front of him, who was chuckling. "I'm only kidding Naruto. That's good. I'm glad you're starting to take your studies seriously. You must really be thinking of college, huh?" He sweat dropped a little, a nervous laugh escaping his lips.

"Oh yeah. College, huh. I honestly forgot about that, if you want me to be honest." She sweat dropped before giving him an annoyed look, but it quickly changed to a light-hearted laugh.

"Studying your life away and haven't even considered college. You amaze me so much sometimes Naruto." He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, heh. I dunno. But I have to head home now Sissy! Have to go study and all that." She rolled her eyes before waving off the blond with a smile.

"Go. Have fun Naruto." He gave her a wide grin before walking out of the classroom. As the door closed behind him, Shizune's smile slowly turned into a frown. She looked at the door and let out a soft sigh.

* * *

Naruto walked out of the school, a small sigh leaving his mouth. He didn't enjoy lying to Shizune, but he couldn't exactly tell her he was moonlighting as a hero.

"I should probably try and get some practice in." He clutched his bag a little harder, his makeshift suit hidden in it. As he walked away from the school, he didn't notice Shizune watching him leave from the classroom window.

* * *

"Listen, it's a stupid company party. Old tradition and all that. They wanted me to invite some girl, but I don't really care to invite someone and I'd rather have someone I can actually stand being there." Naruto let out a small sigh, rolling his eyes at the Uchiha's words.

"I've known you for so long and there was never some Uchiha Party within the company." He heard a soft snort over the phone.

"Hn. It was my great grandpas tradition. Back when he formed the company. He wanted the people to think that he was always thinking of the little guy and that this was some way to boost morale. Some party so they could actually see the CEO and all that. Dad's trying to bring that back." Naruto recalled them talking about the head position at Uchiha Corp a lot when they were children. His father, Fugaku, had recently taken the mantle of CEO and was determined to prove that he was a worthy successor of his own father, Shinji Uchiha.

"I guess that makes sense. It's really been a year since your dad took up the mantle?" He heard a scoff at the other end of the receiver.

"1 year, 2 months and 12 days. You wouldn't believe how much he reiterates it." Naruto let out a soft chuckle at his words. "But that means it's also been a little over a year since Madara died." The laughter died in the Uzumaki's mouth. Sasuke wasn't necessarily close to his great grandfather. He only talked to him at a few family functions. According to Sasuke, he rarely ever came mostly due to his advanced age and when he did, he only made brief appearances. Despite all this, Sasuke had a strong sense of pride with family and any family member dying was a hard blow.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that man." There was a brief pause in the call, when all that was heard was the faint static and a breath from the Uchiha.

"It's whatever. Anyway, it's in 2 weeks. You better come dobe. Like I said, I need at least one person I can tolerate and not wanting to kiss my ass.

"Yeah, I don't want any of that ass," Naruto laughed out, making the Uchiha chuckle slightly. Naruto was glad when his friend wasn't being the emotionless bag of cardboard he usually was. "I don't think I'll be working, but I can call it off. I'm sure Teuchi won't mind."

"Thanks dobe. Now that that's taken care of... How have you been? You've been zooming out of class lately. Haven't seen much of you outside of class. Everything all right?" His voice sounded monotonous, but after being friends for so long, Naruto could catch the small hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, it's all been good. Just been working a lot, you know how it is man. I'm sure you do a lot of work at the company."

"Yeah, but it isn't a real job. Not yet at least. It's just a lot of interning and all that." Naruto rolled his eyes with a smile, before he caught something in his peripheral vision.

"Hey Sasuke, is it cool if I give you a call back? Something came up." There was a pause on the call, as if Sasuke was registering his words.

"Sure. Call me later." There was a soft click over the line as it made a beep. Reaching up to his ear, Naruto clicked a large button from the small Bluetooth receiver over his ear, effectively ending the call on his end as well. He stood up from his perch, revealing he was on a rooftop the entire time, dressed in a dark blue hoodie and dark blue pants. The building he was on wasn't terrible tall, but tall enough to avoid most wandering eyes. He looked over towards his right, trying to make sure he did indeed see correctly. With a scowl, he lifted up a face mask that was around his neck to cover his mouth and pulled his hood over his head.

"Sure hope I don't biff this."

* * *

 **This following section contains pretty much the equivalent of a sexual assault. It can be traumatic for certain readers, so this warning is to protect those that aren't able to read that.**

* * *

"Oh come on Sakura, it's hilarious!" A blond girl let out a large exclamation as they stepped out into the night from a large clothing store, bags draped all over their arms. She was letting out a small giggle next to the girl.

"Okay okay, I'll give it to you Ino. It was pretty funny." The pink haired girl walked next to her on the sidewalk, to which Ino answered with a sly grin.

"Of course! Like I don't know why he thought he had a chance! He looked like he didn't even own a bottle of lotion. Or conditioner! Or any kind of hygiene products at all!" She let out a boisterous laugh out, making Sakura smile slightly. She was really good friends with Ino and she didn't dare say anything, but she felt like she was still being a little rude. He seemed like a nice guy. While Ino and Sakura walked and laughed, neither of them failed to notice a man follow behind them, an evil expression on his face.

"I'm just saying. If you're gonna try and hit on a girl, make sure you're looking like a snack, y'know?" She gave her friend a small wink, making Sakura roll her eyes with a smile.

"Yeah, you have-"

"Damn, hello there." Sakura's eyes widened as she immediately froze up. In front of them, a man dressed in a brown coat was smirking, giving both girls a dangerous looking smirk. "What brings you two pretty ones over here?" Sakura gulped, unsure what to say. This man was giving her a weird look and she did not feel safe at all. All of her concern seemed to be hers and hers alone, as Ino simply scoffed.

"Over here? You mean in the city? People tend to live here, idiot." Sakura gave her friend a terrified look for her boldness, but the man simple chuckled.

"Guess you're right. Feisty little one, aren't ya?" She rolled her eyes, pushing past the man.

"As if. Come on Sakura, we got places to go." The pink haired girl tried to quickly follow her friend when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Before she could scream another hand was placed on her mouth. In the same moment, the man in the front of them grabbed Ino's wrist before pushing her to a nearby alley.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you are doing? Let me go!" Ino started to squirm before she was pushed to the wall, dropping all her bags and knocking the wind out of her. She looked up to see the earlier giving her a small smirk while looking at her.

"I always did like the wild ones, ain't that right Takakuzu?" Ino looked to her side to see Sakura being pushed against the wall, the man behind her cackling wickedly.

"Oh that I do, Sanzo. These timid ones really do me in anyway!" He exclaimed, licking his lips slightly. Ino's eyes started to narrow, tears developing in her eyes. Was this really happening to them. The man above her, Sanzo, turned to the alley entrance, where two more guys were standing. One was wearing a tight black shirt, while the other looked slightly scrawnier and nerdier.

"Shun! Taki! Keep an eye out on that entrance. Make sure no one comes down. If they do, you know what to do." The two men nodded and one gave a wicked grin to Ino. Her narrow eyes widened in shock for a moment.

"Y-You..." One of the men, identified as Taki, gave her a slight wave. It was the man she rejected in the store. Her eyes quickly morphed back from their shock to one of immense hatred. "You evil little scrawny fu-mmph!" She wasn't able to finish her rant as Sanzo quietly placed a cloth from his pocket in her mouth, stopping her screaming. She glared at Taki, before redirecting her vision back to Sanzo.

"Give that stupid whore what she deserves." Taki spat out, malicious dripping from his voice. Sanzo chuckled, grabbing Ino's arms and holding them above her head as he crouched down.

"Oh I intend to..."

 _'Oh shit, I need to get free. Sakura, we need...'_ Ino shouted in her mind before turning to Sakura. The pink haired girl was pressed against the wall, her face frozen blankly as she was grouped from behind by the lecherous man. Her face showed no emotion, showing how the girl simply locked up after being grabbed. Ino grit her teeth and turned back to Sanzo, trying to shake out of his grip, simply making him chuckle darkly.

"So feisty... I just can't help myself." He leaned in closer, Ino able to feel the older man's warm breath on her cheek. She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch her own assault when she heard a quick shout.

"WHAT KIND OF MEN ARE YOU?" Her eyes shot open as a quick burst of wind landed next to her. From above, a man in dark blue landed with a loud thud, wind sending Taki and Shun spiraling in opposite directions; Shun landing in the middle of the nearby street and Taki flying past Ino into the alleyway. Takakuzu let go of Sakrua in fright, dropping the frozen girl to the floor. Sanzo glared away from Ino, looking at masked man, whose bright blue eyes oozed hatred. In the confusion, Ino was able to lift her legs up, kicking Sanzo across his face, making him lose his grip. The instant that happened, the hooded man pushed past Takakuzu and wound up a roundhouse kick, hitting Sanzo incredible hard on his chin and sending him to the ground, unconscious. He looked to the girl with a quick look before he felt the hands of Takakuzu wrap around him.

"You're gonna regret that you masked freak!" He turned his head, his eyes giving off a glare to the man.

"As if!" He quickly hopped into the air, using his wind to push his upper half back. Takakuzu's eyes widened as he felt the wind push him and slam him into the ground. Now above him with his grip loosened, the masked man leaned backwards, rolling off the man. In the street, Shun was glaring at Naruto and already in a fighting stance.

 _'I was able to knock that blond one out. He seemed the most dangerous. Now I have to deal with these two and the one that was knocked away. Hopefully, that training with Lee pay's off!'_ He slowly bent his back, his arms a little apart in an X formation, his hands curled into a martial arts stance. Takakuzu slowly rose with his hand on his head, moving over to fight the man with Shun. As the two circled around Naruto, Ino walked to the edge of the alley, looking towards her friend on the ground. She crouched down to check on Sakura, making sure she was okay and helping her sit up straight. The girl was fine, but she was still frozen, just watching the battle between Naruto and their attackers. Ino turned back to the fight and watched in amazement, wondering where everyone on this street had gone. Instinctively, she reached for her phone and began to record.

* * *

 **Here is the end of that scene. As a note for those that weren't able to read it, Sakura and Ino were assaulted by a group of 4 men. Naruto arrived in his superhero form and was able to knock two away. He prepares to fight the other two while Ino records the encounter. The mens names are Shun, Sanzo, Takakuzu and Taki.**

* * *

The two men rushed towards Naruto, both of them swinging high from opposite sides. Thanks to his training with Lee, Naruto was easily able to duck under the slow punches and uppercut Shun. Sliding on his foot, he pushed his fist into Takakuzu's stomach, making the man cough out and fall to the floor. Naruto let out a grin as both men were stunned on the floor.

' _It seems like I'm getting stronger. They don't seem to be at the same level those original goons were, but I still need to be careful. They could easily get the jump on me!'_ He stayed in a combat stance as they both started to rise.

"Ya bastard, I'll mess you up!" Takakuzu rushed towards the hooded blonde, not learning his lesson from earlier. Instead of a high strike, his fist was at waist level, aimed towards the hero's stomach. Naruto backed up slightly, keeping one hand high with the other low. Using the charging man's momentum, he guided the punch towards his side before following it with a devastating left hook to his jaw. Before he could collect himself, Shun rushed towards him from his left side. With barely a second to register the mans attack, He leaned back, making the mans fist fly right past him. He quickly used his other hand to take hold of the back of his neck, leaning the man towards a knee to his abdomen.

"Grah!" Shun spat out an unknown liquid before crumpling to the floor, unconsciousness taking him. Takakuzu groaned but was able to stand, clutching his stomach in pain.

"You bastard. I'm gonna really mess you up now. Then I'm gonna have my fun with those girls." He let out a devilish smirk, only making Naruto's eyes narrow. He slowly stepped towards the thug, his anger taking over. Takakuzu started to wind up his free arm, but he was quickly punched in the nose by Naruto's open palm. Before he could fall over, the hooded man grabbed ahold of the front of his shirt. Now stabilized, the man groaned before he felt a flurry of open palm strikes hit in multiple areas of his body. Before he could fall in pain, Naruto knelt down and quickly sent up an open palmed uppercut to the mans chin, effectively breaking his jaw and sending him into unconsciousness.

"Holy crap…" Ino muttered to herself, lowering her phone and stopping the recording. As she watched the fight, she heard a slight stirring behind her. Looking in the alley, she saw Taki rising slowly, holding his head and groaning in pain. Her eyes immediately narrowed as she rose, charging towards the man, dropping her phone in the process.

"You sick bastard." Taki looked up, his head stilly blurry before he felt a sudden impact in his face sending him falling to the ground. Above him, he was able to barely make out the silhouette of Ino Yamanaka, currently holding her hand in pain and glaring down at the man.

"W-wait!"

"Like hell!" She stomped down on the man's stomach, making him yelp in pain, his eyes starting to water. Without warning, she let up before falling down to sit on his stomach. Before he could register the weight on him, she started to rain down sporadic random punches to his face.

"I! SHOULD! KILL! YOU!" Each punch was filled with copious amounts of hatred, her eyes watering as she relived the sudden attack.

"Ino!" A voice knocked her out of her angry stupor and she looked back to see the hooded man, knelt towards her friend. His blue eyes looked over at her, a stern and hardened look in them.

"Your friend needs you right now. Please calm down." Naruto was trying his best to change his voice, deepening it slightly, but it only sounded like a child trying to mimic their father's deeper voice. Luckily for him, Ino was so distraught that she didn't notice her classmates voice, and instead ran towards her downed friend.

"Oh crap, Sakura! What should we do?" He was taken slightly off guard before looking towards her phone on the ground, the screen slightly cracked.

"Call 119. Get an ambulance and the police here as soon as you can." He picked up the phone from the ground, handing it to her. Now with all her adrenaline gone, Ino was starting to feel the weight of everything and nodded to him, her watery eyes now streaming with tears.

"R-right." She shakily took the phone from the masked man, dialing the number for the emergency services. He gave her a light smile from behind his mask before looking to Sakura, a frown now on his face. She was clearly in shock and this event would definitely leave a lasting impact on her.

"Hello? Uh, m-my name is Ino Yamanaka. My friend and I were attacked. Were on the corner of…" Ino's voice drowned out in Naruto's hand as he heard the distinct noise of a switchblade flipping out. He froze slightly, remembering the sound of Kyoichi's similar knife a few weeks back. He turned quickly, just in time to see the standing form of Taki standing above the kneeling Ino, a knife in hand. As if time started to move slower, Naruto rushed towards the girl near him, unknowingly using his wind to speed himself up.

"Bastard!" Ino's eyes widened as she looked back, the masked man standing above her. Before she could react, she heard a grunt and looked to her side to see Taki, knife aimed towards her. She froze slightly, not hearing the emergency services over the phone saying her name.

"I had her, you jackass!" Taki grunted out as he tried to push, unable to move against Naruto, whose hand was firmly gripped around Taki's wrist, preventing the knife from moving any further. Naruto glared at the struggling man, not budging at all.

"You trying to stab a defenseless woman, you sick monster?" He forgot to make his voice deeper in his rage, his eyes seemingly turning red. Taki started to shake, now trying to pull his hand away from the masked man's hold, fear replacing all his anger.

"L-let go of me! You're hurting me!" He shouted, starting to lose his composure and squirming away. Naruto squeezed harder on the man's wrist, making him yelp in pain and drop the knife. Ino let out a small yeep, backing away towards her downed friend. The knife clattered down to the cement floor. Taki looked at the man's eyes, fear taking over him completely.

"I'm going to do so much more than hurt your wrist!" He snarled out, swinging his free hand towards the man, striking him in the face with a brutal open palm. Once again, he unknowingly added the strength of his wind abilities behind his blows, making them hit harder.

"Grah!" Naruto released his hold, letting Taki stumble back, clutching his now broken nose. Before he could register he was free from the masked man's hold, Naruto took hold of his wrist with his right hand this time, turning it slightly.

"Never touch anyone again," he spat out, venom-laced in his voice. With a quick strike from his left hand, he sent an open palmed strike directly at the man's elbow, leaving the alley with a loud crack. Taki fell to the floor, tears in his eyes as he looked down at his right hand, seeing the arm bent the wrong direction before letting out a blood-curdling scream.

"AHHHHHHHHH! MY ARM! YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU-" Naruto glared down at the man, his eyes still red and drenched in malice. He started to raise his foot to silence the man before another boot slammed into his face, sending the bleeding man into unconsciousness. Looking over, he saw the huffing form of Ino, a defiant smirk now plastered on her face.

"Take that, you fuck." Seeing Ino and hearing her words, Naruto's eyes finally returned to their normal sky blue, and his sense of hate vanished. Looking around, he saw all the unconscious men around them, as well as the still catatonic Sakura.

"You should be fine from here. Police are on their way." He muttered quickly in his mock deep voice, attempting to turn and get away from the scene.

"W-wait! Who are you!" Ino rushed over towards Naruto, who was now in the streets, trying to flee.

"Uh. I don't really have one. Just the wind guy, that's all!" He mumbled, trying to move on but Ino took hold of his arm, not letting him go.

"Wind guy? So you're that wind hero from the news! I thought you were just made up… That's pretty lame though," she pouted, her lower lip sticking out. "Watching you. It was so fast. Like a giant flurry. Like watching a storm pass through." He chuckled slightly, able to pull himself out of her hold.

"Yeah! Call me Storm then! That's my name!" She rolled her eyes, hands on her hips as she stood near the alley's entrance.

"Like that one X-Men hero? What, no way! That's copyright anyway. You were like… a tempest. Yeah, a tempest! A violent graceful storm!" She wore a big grin, as Naruto pondered her words. Tempest? He liked that. Before he could ponder the name more, he started to hear the sirens in the distance. Looking around, he could see all the people starting to gather around and murmur, looking at him in astonishment. Rather than test his luck, he decided it would be better if he wasn't found around a group of unconscious men, especially with one with a broken arm and nose.

"You're right. Tempest it is! I got to go though!" With a small hand wave, he rushed off, using the wind to speed him up slightly. Before Ino could question him, two police cars pulled up, reminding Ino of her situation and of Sakura.

"Officers! Over here!"

* * *

"In other breaking news, it seems that Konoha's fabled 'Wind Guy' has made another appearance. Earlier this evening, social media was flooded with footage of the wind guy fighting against two men. From the films point of view, it's unable to see if it was him just attacking random citizen's or if it was self-defense. The footage is a little graphic, so viewers be warned." The TV footage suddenly cut to a shaky view of Naruto from earlier, fighting against the men that assaulted Sakura and Ino. The footages gives a good view of Naruto easily dominating the two men as the male news reporters voice takes over.

"From the look of things, it seems this wind vigilante decided to attack several passerby's, but we are unsure why." As the footage ended with Naruto upper-cutting the other man into unconsciousness, the news caster was staring back at the camera.

"The only thing we know for certain is that this video was originally uploaded earlier tonight from the Facebook account of Ino Yamanaka, a local woman who is currently attending her second year at Konoha High. It still isn't clear if Ms. Yamanaka was the one recording, but the one thing that is apparent is that the video has already reached over ten thousand shares on social media and is currently trending hard." As the newscaster finished speaking, the TV fizzled out into darkness. With a small thump, a remote was placed down. With a confused expression on his face, Rock Lee looked up from the floor towards the blank TV, a million questions on his face.

* * *

 **As disclaimer from earlier, Sexual Assault is never a joke. It's a sad reality that a lot of men and women have to deal with fear of being assaulted like that.**

* * *

 **Episode 6 coming soon.**


	6. Episode 6: The True Start!

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 6: The True Start**

* * *

Rock Lee was deep in thought. There was no mistaking it. The distinct moves of his fighting style, the footwork and the deep blue eyes. Rock Lee didn't have a doubt in his mind. His pupil, Naruto Uzumaki, was unquestionably the wind guy that has suddenly arrived in his city. But why? He continued to smack his hands against the training bag in front of him, almost synching his thoughts to the rhythmic punches. He was so engrossed in his own questions, he failed to notice the confused looking Naruto next to him.

"Lee!" Finally, Lee looked to his left to see the blond in question staring at him. With a small sigh, he stopped his workout and removed a head phone, addressing the blond.

"Naruto. I see you are here." He was slightly taken back by Lee's calmer demeanor, more used to the over-enthusiastic punch that was Rock Lee's personality.

"Uh yeah. We are training today right? I'm sorry I'm a little late." Naruto started to put his bag down, getting ready for the coming day when Lee let out a small cough.

"I've found it is best to not beat around the bush Naruto. You are the wind guy." It wasn't a question, but more of a statement and it threw the blond off.

"What? That guy from the news? No way!" He had to fight the nervous laugh that was creeping on him. That certainly wouldn't help his case here, but Lee simply let out another sigh before turning back to his bag, one headphone now dangling as he punched.

"I don't want to be lied to Naruto. I saw the footage last night. Those open-palmed moves. All things I taught you recently. There is no denying it, Naruto. I will say it once more. You are the wind guy." Lee's voice was starting to rise as he breathed in with his punches, making Naruto's panic start to rise. He wasn't sure what footage was gotten of him, but he could see the cold determination in his mentor's eyes. He knew.

"… Yes. I am him. It's, uh, Tempest now though. Kinda trying the name thing, heh." He attempted a light chuckle, one of his hands rubbing his neck nervously. Lee refused to acknowledge Naruto, simply continuing to hit his bag, which sent a sense of unease into the budding hero. "I'm sorry Lee. It's not like its something I can just say. Like, 'Oh hi, I have powers!'" Lee's punches stopped, and he looked Naruto in the eyes.

"We are not training together anymore Naruto." He was taken back slightly and was about to question the bowl-haired raven when Lee suddenly started to walk off. Grabbing his bag quickly, he rushed over to match Lee's pace.

"W-wait, what? Why?" Not bothering to stop or look at him, Lee spoke up.

"I do not wish to contribute to this general un-youthfulness! You lied to me and sought me out under these false pretenses and I don't want to teach someone to fight only for them to go and use it to terrorize the people of this city!" He stepped back from Lee as he continued to walk away. Feeling his fist clench up, he sped up and grabbed Lee's shoulder, effectively stopping Lee and making him glare back at the blond.

"Do you really think that's what I'm doing Lee? Just learning to fight and mugging people in the streets?" Before he could answer, Lee took hold of Naruto's hand, squeezing hard on his hand and letting go, turning to face him.

"I know what I saw, and I will not condone such activities. Either way, the police have their jobs and you should let them do it. You attempt to gain more training from me or go out there to fight more, I will go straight to the police. Do not touch me either." Before Naruto could respond, a quick strike from Lee connected with his face, knocking him down to the ground.

"Grah!" Several people stopped to see what was going on, wincing at the impact of Lee's blow. Naruto glared up at Lee, clutching his face, blood oozing out of his nose. He gave the blond one last look before turning away and leaving Naruto on the floor.

* * *

"Well, that's really not good…" Naruto rolled his eyes from his position, giving the girl in front of him a small glare.

"Gee, you think so?" Ayame gave Naruto a hardened look and crossing her arms.

"Hey, don't get all pissy with me just because you're terrible with a secret identity!" He rolled his eyes, raising to a standing position. At the moment, they were currently at a roof atop of Konoha High, needing to talk about the current events surrounding Naruto.

"It's not my fault! I wasn't aware Ino was going to record it and upload it online! And to think Lee was going to be able to notice it was me from just watching it? How am I supposed to predict that?" Ayame nodded, leaning back against the chain-link fence.

"Doesn't help that the media painted you in such a bad light. Making it seem like you were mugging some random people." He let out a small growl, clenching his fists together. He still wasn't happy at that at all. After seeing the news article, he had to resist the urge to let his anger take hold. "Hey, at least you have a fan fighting for you. That Ino girl has been fighting for Tempest it seems. Yelling at anyone that seems to be against you." Hearing Ino's name reminded him more of the events that had happened.

"Have you been able to check on Sakura?" She gave him a small frown, looking away slightly.

"I haven't. Poor girl. No one deserves that. Maybe you should try and ask Ino. If anyone knows how she is, I think she would be your best bet."

"I would, but..." He paused, letting out a loud sigh. "I'm not exactly... Popular." She rolled her eyes at him, pushing off the fence and walking towards her.

"Listen. I'm pretty sure with everything that happened... She's not going to give a rat's ass about how popular you are or aren't. She gonna be happen that you're concerned about her friend!" He let out a small snort, sliding down the wall to a cross-sitted position.

"You don't know Ino like I do." She gave him a disapproving look before he continued. "Besides, she heard my voice! I tried to disguise it, but you know a lot of good that did? It sounded super lame!" She nodded slightly, accepting his point.

"Be that as it may," she started as she pulled out a notepad. "I think you should just ask her. Doesn't hurt to see if her friend is okay."

"What are you scribbling down?" He raised his neck to look, making her smirk and flip her notepad, showing him the page. Scribbled down, her notepad said 'suit', with a large circle around the word 'TEMPEST?'. Under that, it said 'bluetooth headset', but it was scribbled out. Under that, she had just written down 'voice changer'.

"Just a little to-do list. Things we need to get for Tempest. Nice name, by the way." He gave a soft chuckle, raising up from his position.

"It was Ino's idea actually. I guess I better go see on her before lunch is done. I'll see you at work later?" She nodded, giving him a peace sign.

* * *

Ino let out small sigh as she wrote down notes in her notebook. She had started to think a lot about how she was as a person and everything that had happened that night. After news broke out about their attack, everyone was surprised to see Ino walk into school. Hell, even she was surprised she went in today. She hadn't slept since the attack and had left the hospital barely that morning. The news mentioned Ino by name, but only refered to Sakura as "her friend" in the news retelling, but everyone was able to easily pick up on who it was. She didn't want to hear everyone come to her and talk and ask if she was okay after the attack, as that would only have made her feel week and worse, but what actually happened was even worse.

"I'm just saying Ino. If that wind guy tried to do anything to you, I'd rip him apart!" She rolled her eyes, leveling a glare at Kiba, who flexing with his arms at his hips.

"I already told you, dogbreath! Tempest saved me! He didn't attack me! And like you could do anything to him!" Suddenly, everyone had turned towards Ino and Kiba, who looked visibly offended. The news had painted Tempest as a bad guy and some plague to the town, but in reality, he had saved her life! Who knows what would have happened to her and Sakura had he not shown up.

"It's okay Ino. After a traumatic event like that, it's normal to be angry. I think we are all just glad he didn't hurt you." Near her, their classmate Shino explained, careful not to touch Ino. Instead of relieving her, her anger just rose.

"He saved me from those men! It wasn't just some random encounter and he decided to beat them up! If you all are just gonna keep being asshats and telling me how much you'd protect me from the 'wind guy', just save it and keep your mouth shut!" Naruto walked into the classroom at just that moment and let out a small gulp. Ino didn't seem to happy. As the class started to disperse after Ino's rant, Naruto worked up the courage to walk towards the blonde.

"H-hey Ino…" He started with a stutter, his nerves slowly coming back. Before he could say another word, the fuming blonde shot him a large glare.

"Listen Naruto, if you're here to give me the same spheel that Kiba did about protecting me from 'wind guy', I can tell you where I'm going to put my foot!" She hissed out at him, expecting him to recoil away. To her surprise, his look softened and he let out a small smile.

"I'm not going to say any of that. I… I believe you in fact. The footage looked like he was fighting to protect someone. I'm willing to bet that was you and Sakura. Considering Sakura… She's… She's okay right?" Ino blinked slightly in confusion at the man. She was used to the stupid hyperactive idiot that always thirsted after Sakura, but she could see genuine care in his eyes at this moment.

"She's… She's fine. She just needs her rest," Ino lied, not willing to tell Sakura's story without her permission, despite the care in the blond's eyes. Thankfully, he believed it and let out a soft smile.

"That's great! I'm glad to hear she's all okay." Before she could respond, the classroom door slid open, letting one Neji Hyuga into the room, looking stern and bossy.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Uzumaki. I've been looking for you for a good ten minutes! You are needed in the main office! Make sure to bring all your belongings!" He glared down at the blonde before adding, "Don't be late. Get to the office within the next 5 minutes." He shut the sliding door to the class with a huff, making Naruto groan.

"Guess, I better go deal with that. I'm glad you and Sakura are okay though!" He gave her a large grin before walking towards his desk to grab his bag. Giving him one last look, Ino gave a small smile. Naruto didn't seem that bad of a guy. She would definitely have to apologize to him later about how she's treated him the last year.

* * *

"Anko. Look!" Iruka nudged the sleeping woman next to him, who shuffled in annoyance, drool dripping from her mouth. With a quick bush from her sleeve, she glared at the man.

"What do you want? I'm trying to sleep." She tried to roll over, trying to go back to sleep in her seat when Iruka smacked her again.

"Anko, it's Sotatsu! He's leaving. Based on the amount of people, I'm willing to bet he's going to get Mizuki!" Hearing his name, she let out a soft hiss before turning to face the car's windshield. Squinting against the midday sun, Anko was able to see the form of Sotatsu, talking to several other men, multiple black cars in the street.

"Oh yeah. This is a convoy. They are totally getting that son of a bitch." Iruka turned to Anko, a small smile on his face.

"We got them Anko. We just got to follow them straight to Mizuki." She smirked before slapping his arm with the back of her hand lightly.

"It isn't gonna be that simple rookie. After finding Mizuki, it's going to be a whole new battle." As the duo talked, some of the cars started to pull out, Sotatsu getting in the last car. "Last car is Sotatsu. Make's the tailing a little easier. Let's get to it." With a nod, Iruka started the car in ignition, following after Sotatsu, making sure to keep his distance.

"Finally some action. Took them long enough. It's been like 3 days. Guess Mizuki didn't have anything else to do huh? Maybe he was beating some puppies in walking distance? Maybe clubbing some seals?" Iruka gave her a narrowed expression, making her chuckle slightly with a shrug. He turned back to the road ahead, analyzing the car Sotatsu went in. He was able to notice some scuff's near the cars, as well as the license plate of Sotatsu's specific car.

"Speed up," Anko spoke abruptly, making Iruka roll his eyes.

"I'm not playing your speed game Anko, this is not a high speed car chase." He glanced at her to see his partner, leaning forward, hand near her handgun around her waist. All her playfulness was gone, a cold serious exterior now placed.

"It's about to be. They are on to us. Speed up now Iruka!" He had doubts about her idea, but as if on cue, the convey with Sotatsu suddenly all banked a hard left, engines roaring as they sped up.

"Shit!" Turning quickly, Iruka slammed his foot down in order to keep up with the speeding cars. Near his dash, he flicked a switch, starting the loud and blaring sirens that were hidden in his cars grill. As he attempted to match their speed, he was able to see two men from each car, stick their heads out of their respective cars, guns in hand. Predicting their actions, Anko had already finished rolling her window down and stuck her gun out. With a quick pop, the tires of one car were shot in the back, causing the car on their left hand side to shake and wobble.

"Hit the back end now!" Complying almost immediately, Iruka moved the car to the left, hitting his front end against the cars back, causing it to shake further and crash into a nearby pole.

"Boom baby!" Anko shouted, joy on her face before pulling her head back into the car. "Two cars left before Sotatsu! We can't let them get away. I have no idea where the hell they are leading us too." Iruka tried to give her a nod, but was too focused on weaving through the cars, making sure Sotatsu didn't get away.

"Get me closer so I can get a better shot!" Iruka tried to shoot her a look, but he was having his hands full dodging both cars and making sure they weren't littered with bullets. Turning another corner, Anko saw her moment and popped of two shots, hitting both driver side tires on one car. The car skidded and turned over, crashing to its side.

"Holy crap!" Iruka tried to look over at the flipped car, when Anko started to yell.

"Ignore them! Keep your eyes on the road." Deciding not to fight her, he continued to follow the two remaining cars, determination etched on his face. In front of Sotatsu, the light changed to yellow, and the engine of his car roared, signaling they were speeding up.

"Anko! This is gonna be close!" She nodded, bracing herself in case they were hit. Luckily for them, the siren blaring stopped most of the traffic from the incoming intersection. Hitting the bumpy road, they bounced slightly. While in the air slightly, Anko took advantage and shot another shot off, hitting another shot.

"Bastard!" From the car in front of them, a man yelled before pulling his body out of the car window, a dangerous looking assault rifle in his hands.

"Why does Mizuki have so many dangerous weapons at his disposal?" Iruka began to question, getting ready to move the car out of the incoming gunfire when he heard a distinct two pops from Anko's handgun, followed by her voice, an unusually soft tone in it.

"Move to the left." She hadn't been wrong yet, so Iruka obliged, veering to the left. Almost instantly, the truck in front of them exploded from the back, causing the man to jerk forward and lose his weapon. The force of the explosion sent the car flying forward, landing on it's engine and windshield.

"Hit the gas tank. They ain't going to drive anymore." Iruka tried to give the woman next to him a look, but he was only able to give her a small side glance, swearing he saw immense sadness in her eyes. Before he could dwell more on it, they approached another intersection where Sotatsu's car was almost hit by another car that was speeding through the intersection. A loud skid echoed throughout the air and the car attempted to turn, only for it to slide and fall towards it's side with a loud bang. Iruka slammed down on the brakes, stopping the traffic in the intersection. All the sounds were gone, the car eerily silent now. The doors creaked open, and the two detectives stepped out, guns at the ready.

"Sotatsu Murayama! Come out with your hands up!" Iruka shouted, breathing heavily as he slowly stepped towards the vehicle, his weapon facing the car. From the top of the overturned car, a man popped up from the window, blood leaking from his forehead. He was holding a gun in his hands. "Put the weapon do-" He wasn't able to finish, as the man aimed the gun at Iruka. He had no time to think and instead pulled his trigger, hitting the man in his barely exposed chest. With a gurgle, he feel back into the car. Breathing heavily, Iruka looked at Anko with a pain in his eyes. Anko shot him a glare, confusing him until he heard the shout from in front. Hiding behind the car, Sotatsu came out yelling, a handgun in his hand. Iruka had already lowered his weapon, while Sotatsu's was aimed towards him, leaving him at a disadvantage. Seeing the gun aimed at him, Iruka knew he had no chance and was waiting for the pain of the bullet. There was a loud gunshot and a pained shout echoed in the street. Only it wasn't Iruka, but Sotatsu that was screaming. Looking at him, Iruka noticed the lack of gun in his hand, as well as the small bleeding gash that was oozing from his hand.

"Don't let your guard down again." He turned to see Anko, who was putting her gun back into its holster in her jacket. "I don't need you dying because you weren't paying attention." His adrenaline died down by this point, making his breathing more noticeable.

"I'll… I'll call it in. If you want to bag Sotatsu," he told her, already turning to the car to signal the capture of Mizuki's driver. He was able to see Anko nod and start walking towards the car, handcuffs in her hands. While she took the whole situation well, it seemed Iruka was struggling to deal. He had dealt with some intense issues as an officer, but the fact they just took multiple lives was gonna weigh on him. They always did.

* * *

When Naruto got to the school's front office, he wasn't sure what to expect. There's no way his mom was getting him early. For her to leave the fire station early, there would have to be a major crisis going. Despite her, he couldn't think of any other family in Konoha that would get him. So when he opened the door to see a long mane of white hair, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Grandpa?" On cue, the white-haired man turned, a large grin on his face.

"Oh yeah, you better believe it Naruto!" The man gave him a thumbs up, making Naruto chuckle slightly. Despite being his grandpa, the two didn't really have a resemblance. While Naruto had bright blonde hair, his grandpa's was a pale white. It was possible he had the same blonde hair when he was a child, but his grandfather never really spoke of his childhood. While Naruto's features were more rounded, his grandfather's were more sharp. He also seemed to have a few warts on his face that Naruto was hoping he never inherited.

"What are you doing in Konoha, Pervy Gramps?" His grandpa suddenly froze, glaring daggers at the boy while the receptionist let out a soft giggle.

"Pervy Gramps?" Quickly, he turned towards her letting a large nervous laugh.

"No no no! The kids just delusional! Not a pervy gramps at all! I'm the great and mysterious Jiraiya!" He let out a small laugh, making her smile and tilt her head to see Naruto.

"It's adorable. My grandfather is the same way." Jiraiya slowly turned to face Naruto, a deadpan look on his face.

"Just give me the papers."

* * *

After signing Naruto out of school, the front doors were busted open, a snickering Naruto side-by-side with a grumbling Jiraiya, his arms crossed.

"Never can let me have anything, can ya boy?" Naruto shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets.

"You act like you even have a chance with our school receptionist. Besides, she's married." Jiraiya let out a small snort, taking the lead from Naruto on their trail.

"Rule #1 kid: no woman is off limits. What can we do if she decides to give into her carnal desires and comes after all of this?" He gestured to himself, a large smile on his face. His grandson gave him a skeptical look and rolled his eyes. Someone he didn't believe that Jiraiya actually thought that.

"Anyway, whats going on gramps? How come you're here and got me from school? You did let mom know right?" Jiraiya let out another nervous chuckle, stretching the collar of his shirt's neck.

"Do me a favor and not mention this to Kushina? She'll absolutely tear me a new one." He usually told his mom everything, but he wasn't one to overlook a good thing. Besides, he also didn't want to experience the reaming his mom would give. "Besides, I was in town and wanted to see my favorite grandson. Is that such a crime?" This was true. He hadn't really seen his grandfather since he was 15 at a Christmas party where he had drunkenly hit on Shizune. It didn't end well between him and Kushina.

"I mean, I agree, just know I do have to go to work around 5." Jiraiya let out a small frown as he opened the door to his car, which was a nice slick black car parked in front of the school. It looked as if it could have been released this year.

"You should try and call in today. It's not everyday I'm in town. I want to get you some nice food and show you some things I love about this town! Whaddya say?" Jiraiya did tend to stay out of Konoha. Plus the guy was loaded and always treated Naruto to large amounts of Ramen whenever they did go out.

"Yeah, that's right. Let me just call them real quick." Naruto opened the door to his side of the car before pulling out his phone, ready for Ayame to yell at him.

* * *

"Listen kid, this place has the absolute best ramen. Makes your little Ichiraku look like a convenience store!" Jiraiya let out a small chuckle as he drove the car down the street, making Naruto roll his eyes. He highly doubted anything could compete with his precious ramen store.

"You're talking it up a lot. I doubt it will live up to the expectations, but I'm willing to test it!" He had a look of determination in his eyes, just making his grandfather laugh.

"You just want a bunch of free food. But who can blame you? It's a pretty fancy place that's near downtown. I hate the area, but damn is the food worth it." As Naruto sat there, salivating the thought of all the ramen he could eat, he failed to notice the look Jiraiya was giving him from the driver's seat, as if he was sizing him up.

* * *

"Sakura Haruno please," Ino told the small intercom in the Konoha hospital before a small beep signaled the unlocking of the door. School had ended and rather then attending her normal afterschool activities, she decided to see if her best friend had woken up. She remained in her frozen state afterwards and after taking medicine at the hospital, she remained unconscious.

To her relief, Sakura was awake when she opened the door, but barely. Her eyes had black lines in them and seemed dead. Sakura might have been awake, but it didn't seem like her soul was.

"Ino," she started, but the blond held up her hand, a small smile on her face.

"You don't have to say anything Billboard Brow. I'm just glad you're awake now." Her friend's demeanor made Sakura give an attempt for a smile, only for a moment though. Near her, Sakura's parents, Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno were seated, a worried expression on their faces.

"Ino. It's so nice to see you again," Mebuki spoke with a soft whisper, still in disbelief at the events that happened. Ino told them both and the reactions were quite the opposite; her mother broke down into tears at what had happened to her daughter, while Kizashi was ready for blood.

"Ino." Kizashi gave the girl a nod before his eyes went back to his daughter. Normally, Kizashi Haruno was your typical jokester dad, but after Sakura's attack he went into a straight angry mood. Which Ino completely understood.

"How long has she been awake?" Ino walked towards the small desk the hospital rooms had, putting her bag near the foot of it.

"Only an hour or so. She still seems out of it though." Mebuki went to go for Sakura's hand, trying to reassure her daughter. Sakura gave her a weak smile, turning her head to look at Ino.

"I'm still very tired," she began, slipping her hand out of her mother's hold and going to lay down. Kizashi let out a small cough, addressing the pinkette.

"Sakura, we are going to need you to stay awake honey. Is that okay?" Instead of responding to her father, she looked at him and her face tightened. Almost instantly, her heart rate monitor started to spike, starting off a large alarm. Mebuki rose from her chair quickly, rushing to her daughter's side, while Ino rushed out, looking around for a nurse.

"Hey! Hey! Help! Please!" Almost instantly, a group of nurses ran to the blonde and rushed to help Sakura.

"We need a clear room. Take them to the waiting room now!"

After a few minutes of scrambling, both Haruno parents and Ino were now sitting in the waiting room, Ino sitting on the right side of Mebuki, with Kizashi on his wife's left.

"I hope she's okay. What a wild reaction," Kizashi Haruno muttered, his hand on his face in thought. Without speaking, both Mebuki and Ino gave each other a look, knowing exactly what was happening with Sakura. They both prayed it would get better, but as it stood for now, it seemed that Sakura held a deep fear of men.

* * *

"Okay, I have to give it to ya Pervy Gramps. That hit the spot something mighty fierce," Naruto muttered up, stifling a burp as he patted his full stomach. In front of him, two towers of bowls loomed over his grandpa, who was giving the boy a small smirk.

"Told ya. Though, that doesn't mean you have to eat 14 bowls of ramen. Impressive, but it doesn't mean you have to." Naruto shot him a sly look, snickering a little.

"I'm pretty sure that is exactly what that means I need to do. Test my boundaries and all that good stuff." His grandfather rolled his eyes, rising from his seat.

"You are too concerned with the fact that you can, that you didn't even consider if you should. Get up. I got some other things I want to show you tonight." He threw down some yen and gestured for his grandson to follow him. With a groan, Naruto was able to get up from his chair, his stomach almost sloshing around with the amount of broth and noodle in him.

"I'm gonna say it was worth it. Thanks gramps." Jiraiya wasn't used to the lack of the pervy adjective Naruto usually added to his name, so it made him smile slightly.

"Course. Now this next place I want to show you. It's probably my favorite place in all of Konoha. Nice and secluded. Perfect for just relaxing and hanging out." They got into the car and started heading towards this place, which Naruto just suspected was code for somewhere his grandpa could spy on women.

"So you actually have somewhere to relax? I'm really not looking forward to peeping today. I'd rather not get my eyes gouged out tonight." His grandpa chuckled, shaking his head as he hit a turn lightly.

"Don't worry! No peeping today. I promise. Unless you actually want to?" He started, hopeful. Unfortunately, Naruto gave him a glare which effectively answer the man's question. "You're no fun, kid."

After what seemed like an hour of driving, the car finally stopped. The sun was now starting to set, the blue sky now tipped with a bright shade of red and purple. Naruto couldn't help but stare in awe. Hearing the car door next to him close, he was jostled out of his thoughts and looked to see Jiraiya smiling.

"The Hokage Rock. Probably the greatest point in all of Konoha if you ask me," he started, walking towards the grassy hill. From it's position, you could see the entire city of Konoha, minus a few of the larger skyscrapers. "It has a long past and was detrimental to the foundation of this city." Naruto followed his grandpa, overlooking the city with a smile. The wind was starting to breeze slightly, making his hair flow.

"Long ago, the ancient stories talk about someone called the Hokage, who was the leader of this city and other cities like it. Basically, this is the spot where he moved mountains and created the world. It was said the Hokage was so powerful of a person that he was able to create forests with the snap of his fingers. Move mountains with the swipe of his hand! Command rivers with a simple command. He made the world what it is today." Usually history bored Naruto, but he listened in with interest.

"But that's just a story," he sighed. "A tale told to children about how the world was created. Of course no one would be able to move mountains with no effort." Thinking about it, Naruto agreed. There was no way a person could move mountains. "I mean, unless they were an elemental mutant." Naruto chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I guess only a mutant could do that," he agreed, thinking about X-Men again. "A Magneto level mutant I guess." He did a light chuckle before looking at Jiraiya's face, seeing a stern expression on his face. "What?"

"I wasn't talking about the X-Men boy." Naruto gave him a skeptical look, watching his grandpa's hair flow in the wind.

"Uh, what are you talking about then? I thought you were just making a joke. Which was weird. You're a little old for comics," Naruto started to chuckle after his little joke, but it started to die when his grandpa's expression failed to change. "It was a joke gramps. I know comics have been around awhile."

"I know all about the wind guy. Or I guess Tempest, as you like to go by now. Good name." Naruto almost let his panic show through but was able to hold in on the last second. Lee had already discovered his secret and now his grandpa who doesn't even live in Konoha had discovered him too? How was this even possible? He was trying his best to make sure that his identity was safe, but it seemed he missed something else.

"Okay, that's just wild Pervy Gramps! Everyone knows that kinda stuff is only in comics! I know the difference between real life and comics." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. It was a really bad nervous tick he had when he was lying, but he didn't even notice.

"Naruto, it's o-"

"Hey gramps, we should probably head back into the city. We don't want Kushina to get mad at where I am, right?" He started to laugh, heading towards the car after cutting off Jiraiya. Starting to get annoyed, the older man rose his hand, it facing the car and Naruto. Before Naruto could open the door, a giant gust of wind blew between him and the car, forcing his hand away with the sure force, making his eyes widen. In thought, he turned with wide eyes to see Jiraiya holding his arm up, the air practically swirling around him.

"I told you. I know Naruto. Because you aren't the only one. You are a mutant, and a pretty damn strong one." Seeing the wind surrounding his grandfather startled him, making him take a step back.

"A m-m-mutant? So… that's why I can control the wind? And so can you?" He lowered his arm, letting the wind die down before turning back to face the city.

"Yes. Around 10% of the population right now is born with these powers. So not a lot have them, but a great deal still do. Luckily, I guess the genepool decided to give you the same powers I had." Letting it start to sink in, a thought entered the blondes head.

"Does- I mean, _did_ that mean that dad had powers too? If its been in our family?" There was a small pause, Naruto not hearing the small sigh from his grandfather.

"I don't know. Minato never showed any signs of having any powers. I think he might have had some abilities, but he died before I could see them." Naruto let out a small frown, looking towards the ground. He was hoping his father had some secret ability that it was possible for him to inherit. He did already have wind powers, but another power would have just been great.

"I see. That makes sense though. Talk about timing I guess. You coming to Konoha right as I become Tempest. That's pretty crazy!" He gave his grandson a small look, sweat-dropping before sighing.

"That's _why_ I'm here Naruto. I mostly came to help you learn your powers." After a brief pause, the boy looked at him with a small smile.

"Wait, you don't think I should stop trying to be a hero? You actually want to help me? You're not going to lecture me?" Jiraiya started to chuckle, placing his hand under his chin, a small twinkle in his eyes.

"Hell no! You get super powers and the first thing you want to do is save people! I can totally respect that kind of gumption! I've had these powers since I was your age kid, so I'm kind of a master at using the wind. You'll go far if you stick with me kid!" Feeling a new sense of joy, Naruto ran and tackled his grandfather almost sending the man to his feet. "Whoa whoa, chill out Naruto! I can't train you if you tackle me off this cliff." He began to almost cry into the man's shoulder.

"I'm just so excited. I want to be the best hero I can be." Naruto sobbed into the man, surprising him. After his initial shock, he looked down with a smile.

" _He's just like Minato was… A good soul,"_ He thought to himself before giving Naruto the hug back. After it broke off, Naruto looked back towards the city, small tears in his eyes.

"So was that story true then? About the Hokage?" Jiraiya paused, standing next to the boy. Together they overlooked the cliff with nothing but the bristle of wind between them.

"No mutant is that powerful. So no. But the title of Hokage? That is true. The actual title is Kage, the Hokage was the name of the warrior that started Konohagakure long ago. So the tale of the Hokage is specific to this city. He was indeed the strongest mutant the world has ever seen. But not on the global scale that the stories speak of." Naruto let out a giant toothy grin at the story, clenching his fist and facing it towards the town.

"I'm going to take down Mizuki, the crime boss that's been hurting this town. That's my first step to making Konoha a better place." The older man crossed his arms, a smirk on his face.

"Just Konoha?" He turned towards him, his eyes shining.

"The world! The world needs heroes. And I'm willing to protect this world! And then I'll become the Hokage!" The tense moment was ruined when Jiraiya started to laugh loudly, holding his sides. "What?"

"Kid, the Hokage is still just a story. There is no Hokage." Expecting the kid to sigh or give him a sad expression, he just changed the direction of his fist from the city to his grandfather. His eyes widened in surprise at the boys response.

"Then I'm gonna bring the Hokage back! Believe it!"

* * *

After a few hours of talking and laughing, the door to the Uzumaki household swung open, the silence now filled with boisterous laughter. The Uzumaki duo walked through the door with, large smiles on their faces.

"It was just like, what holy crap!" Jiraiya exclaimed, mimicking an explosion with his hands, making Naruto laugh even harder. While laughing, he looked up slightly and froze, the laughter dying instantly. Jiraiya looked forward to see the fuming form of Kushina, her glare almost piercing him.

"And where exactly have you been all day? Why did I get a call from your school about you getting pulled early?" Naruto shot a look at his grandpa, who was wearing a nervous grin.

"Well… Uh… You see… Hi Kushina…" He let out a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "I haven't seen him in so long! We just wanted to have a guys night out! Can you blame me?" Her answer was a straight glare at her son, who let out a small yelp and shrunk in size.

"I'm just gonna go upstairs bye gramps awesome time dope later up the stairs I go!" Naruto squeaked it all out in one breath before zipping past everyone and rushing up the stairs. There was silence once the blond was gone and Jiraiya let out a small smile.

"How have you been, Kushina?" Her hands balled into fists as she uncrossed her arms, storming towards the man.

"It's been two years and all you can say is 'how are you?' Really Jiraiya? Why are you back in Konoha? I believe it was said that it would be best if you weren't to come back?" Walking past her, Jiraiya opened a cupboard and took down what seemed like a bottle of sake.

"Still in the same place huh?" He chuckled to himself and started to pour the drink in a nearby class. "I know what you said Kushina. But I had to come back. The kid needs help. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about." He gave her a side glance before turning back to his drink and taking a sip. She started to shake her head fervently.

"No. The wind guy was some random mutant that happened to come by. Naruto is NOT his father, is that understood?"

"Face facts. This wind guy is your son and you know it. I'm surprised you haven't told him you know yet. That's quite unlike you," he spoke with a sip, careful not to speak to loud. She bit her lip and looked away from the lecher.

"He's 17. He needs to figure it out on his own. I'm here if he needs me, but this is all on him." She readjusted her look and her hardened stare was back, glaring daggers at the back of his head. "Did you talk to him," she glanced around, making sure her son wasn't listening and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Did you talk to him about Minato?"

"He was mentioned, yes. But I didn't discuss him. It was rather fascinating though. Your son is quite interesting, you know that right?" She let out a breath of relief, relaxing her posture a little before it stiffened again. This time, Jiraiya could feel the heat of her gaze on him, making him turn towards her, her eyes curled in anger at him. From his angle, they held a red tint to them.

"You ever talk to him about Minato Namikaze, I will burn you alive." Her voice was low and gravely, her threat lingering in the air.

"I'd rather not be on your bad side, Kushina. But you will have to tell him about Minato eventually. He told me today he wants to bring back the Hokage." Her glower dropped, replaced by surprise.

"H-hokage?" She looked down, deep in thought.

"He will find out about him eventually. You'll have to talk about your husband sooner than you think." He walked past her towards the door, barely hearing her snort.

"Talk about my husband? There is no need for that. My husband is dead."

* * *

Rushing upstairs, Naruto closed the door behind him, breathing heavily.

"That was so close."

"Yeah, I'll say." With a loud yelp, Naruto jumped and almost smacked the ceiling, making the girl sitting on his bed start to giggle. "Wow. To the moon, with that one, huh Naruto?"

"A-ayame! What are you doing here?" He desperately tried to hide the crimson shade currently taking over his face. He'd never had a girl in his room, especially on his bed! She rose from the bed, stretching slightly. Unlike her usual garb, she was wearing a black t-shirt and some sweatpants.

"Well, you ditched work and I needed to see you. Thanks for that also. I've been here for like an hour!" She crossed her arms, arching her hip slightly. He frowned, bowing to the girl in front of him.

"Sorry! It was a busy day! I didn't mean it intentionally!" He felt a light smack on the back of his head, followed by a small laugh.

"Don't bow to me dork! I needed to show you this! Now come on!" He looked up to see her holding a large bag wrapped in plastic. "Hopefully it fits good. It should! Like I said, I'm a master seamstress, but you never know sometimes. Now, hurry up and try your new suit!" She tossed him the bag and walked towards the window. "I'll turn around. Just hurry!" Despite his embarrassment, he quickly went to switch his clothing into his new outfit. After a good ten minutes, he stood in front of the mirror, letting out a very audible gasp.

"So, I take it you like it?" She turned around, a large smile on her face. At the same time, Naruto turned to face her, now wearing a large dark blue gothic-like coat with lots of buttons and flaps, as well as black fingerless gloves. His pants were the same color as his coat, slightly tight and seemed to be made of a dark denim substance, with dark blue shoes. Besides that, he was wearing a dark blue shirt that mixed with the coat. In the middle of the dark blue shirt, a small capital T was in the center, with a small animated tornado behind it. Under the shirt, he wore a compression shirt that turned into a mouth cover, so no one could see his very distinct cheek scars. Above that, he wore a standard dark blue headband around his eyes, with holes for his eyes, as well as an attached hood from the coat.

"Do I like it?" He slid the mouth mask so she could see his mouth with its huge grin.

"I love it!"

* * *

 **Working on Episode 7 Now.**

 **Also, let me know if Sakura's side story is bad. Last thing I want is to trigger anyone or portray the developing Androphobia bad. So if you have any insights on that part, just let me know.**


	7. Episode 7: Kagashi Bank

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

 **For Reference: Most of what has been seen for Tempest is what Ino recorded, and that was mid-fight of Tempest with random people. Ino did no interview and it was uploaded online by default based on her settings. So most of what everyone has seen is just someone with super powers beating people up.**

 **Lee is also very morally aligned, so he wouldn't go against the law as easy. Obviously, things aren't always that black and white, but that's for another day. Sorry for the issues some readers had with Lee's reaction to Naruto fighting crime. If you keep reading, I'm sure you'll like how it goes.**

 **Either way, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 7: Kagashi Bank**

* * *

"I take it back! This suit sucks!" Naruto gasped for air and placed his arms on his knees, breathing heavily. Jiraiya stood in front of him, giving the boy a quizzical look. "I'm gonna die of heat stroke!" He wheezed out, sweat glistening on his barely exposed forehead.

"Why are you wearing the full suit anyway? Won't it smell? It's not like you have multiples. And I doubt you even know how to wash clothes, huh?" Naruto looked up with an evil expression, glaring at the older man.

"I do not need the sass, Pervy Gramps!"

Today was the day. Naruto's first official day of training with his new powers. In order to get the full experience and potentially deal with someone seeing him, he elected to wear his full Tempest suit. But it was looking like all the dark colors were no match for the scorching Konoha sun. It was also his grandfather's idea to train in a clearing near the Hokage Rock, in a private clearing that was covered by trees.

A few minutes passed and Naruto was now standing before his grandfather, his entire suit to the floor. Unlike earlier, he was now wearing a pair of gray joggers, as well as a white tank-top shirt. He still kept the compression short leave on under the tank top, so he could keep the mouth mask, as well as the mask covering his eyes.

"There, that should be better for you huh?" Naruto nodded, now able to breathe better but tapped his lips in thought.

"Yeah, it feels nicer, but shouldn't I get used to the added weight of all the clothes. Won't I get winded faster or something? I want to be able to move as fast as I can in all the clothes. Wouldn't it-"

"Okay, kid chill," Jiraiya shouted, cutting off the now-rambling boy. "If you let me finish, I was going to say I have a solution. Come here." He gestured the blonde to come forward, a brush in his hand.

"What are you doing?" As Naruto stepped forward, Jiraiya placed the brush on his tank top, scribbling kanji down super fast. "Whoa whoa, why are you writing on my clothes, man?" He tried to back away, but Jiraiya had a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Stop squirming kid. I don't want to mess up." Naruto grumbled out, but decided to stop, making a mental note to yell at him and demand another shirt later. "It's not easy to get my blood ink also."

"What?"

"Nothing. There done." Naruto gave the man a skeptical look, backing away and looking down at his shirt, it now being brandished with black kanji in every inch, all going around a circle near the top left corner.

"So, what exactly did this accomplish?" He asked, looking back to his grandfather, who simply wore a smirk.

"This," he spoke as he reeled back his right hand, slamming an open palm into the circled part of his writing. " _Shishi Jūfūin_!" Naruto let out a loud grunt as the mans palm slammed into his chest, sending him flying a few feet before crashing into the ground.

"What!" He started, coughing, "the HELL was that for?" He tried to rise while groaning, but suddenly felt himself unable to move. "Gramps no seriously what the hell? My body is so heavy! What did you-"

"Kid, stop!" Jiraiya walked towards the boy, crouching down to get a better look at the blond, who was currently sprawled out on the floor. "You're panicking and it's gonna make you pass out. All I did was place a seal and make your shirt weigh more."

"A seal?" He looked confused, still struggling to get up, but now able to sit up slightly.

"Yeah. See kid, controlling the wind isn't my only power. I also have the ability to create seals." Naruto still wore his confused look, making the man sigh. "Okay, I can see you're gonna have trouble with this. Basically, I have the ability to seal items or use techniques on people that can limit their abilities. Or in this case, increase the weight of your clothes so you can train without the heat stroke, got it?"

"Wait what? You have the ability to 'seal' things? I thought you had wind powers like me? I'm so lost." The elder man groaned, falling back into a sitting position and grossing his legs. AT this point, Naruto was now sitting up, breathing heavily at the strain.

"Like I just said kid, I have a second power. With mutants, we are all different, you see? You have one power from your mutation. My mutation gives me two. You see what I mean? You have wind, and I have wind and seals."

"So, you're saying I could potentially get another power? That wind isn't my only power." Jiraiya placed his hand under his chin, eyes close in thought.

"I'm going to say no. Usually powers manifest at the age of 4 at the latest. You probably showed your wind abilities as a child, but never fully realized them until now. Sorry, but wind is all you got." Naruto pouted crossing his arms and looking away from the man.

"Well that's dumb and totally not fair." The older man's eyes narrowed slightly, a small sense of anger radiating from him.

"You have a super power that almost no one else has and you still want more. Don't be selfish, brat!" He spat out, startling Naruto and making him shiver slightly under Jiraiya's intent. After he calmed down slightly, he let out a fresh breath. "But don't worry. It isn't all nice. Usually when mutants have multiple powers, they are not as strong as they could be. For example, your affinity for wind is probably a lot stronger than anything I could muster. There are mutants out there with even more powers then two also, but the more powers inside someone, the harder it is to use them all together or even in succession."

"I see. So in theory, I can do bigger wind attacks then what you could do? So like I could make a tornado, while you can only make a slight breeze?" He grumbled slightly, rolling his eyes.

"In layman's terms, yes. It seems like you get the gist of it." Naruto chuckled, crossing his arms and giving the man a defiant look.

"Of course I get it! I'm not as dumb as you all think!" He looked away from the blonde, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Coulda fooled me…"

"What?"

"Nothing! Alright lets go Naruto. We still got a long day ahead of us! I want you to learn a technique today!"

* * *

"No more. Too tired." Naruto wheezed and collapsed to the floor in a ball of sweat. Jiraiya nodded, placing his hands at his hips.

"Yeah you're right. After 3 hours, you can only give the trees a light breeze. What power."

"Screw you, Pervy Gramps!" He shot out, barely able to keep his head up. "Why can't I just get mad and shoot out the air again? That seems to always work." He muttered in a wheezy breath, not hearing the man's snort.

"Yeah, no. You need to be in better control of your powers. If you can only use them when you're angry or aggravated, how can you actually expect to save people? Now come on and get up. Maybe I can show you some relaxing techniques for your mind." Naruto groaned, knowing full well that him and relaxing weren't the most synergious of things. He struggled to rise from the floor before falling again, coughing slightly. With another heave he was able to lift himself up again, now standing at his feet, his entire body shaking.

"That's the spirit!" Jiraiya chuckled, clapping his hands together. While he was showing a more enthusiastic side, his inner thoughts were incredibly serious.

'I made that seal to increase in weight as we go. If it went right, that shirt should weigh almost 25 kg. There's no way he should even be able to continue, but here he is, chugging along,' he thought, observing the boy manifest a small gust of wind.

"You know, on second thought let's take a break Naruto. Lemme reverse that seal on you." He wanted to object, saying he could push through the pain and master this, but Jiraiya was already next to him, palm at the ready. Before anything was said, he was hit with another palm strike, making him drop like a pile of rocks.

"Just kill me," he groaned out, his entire body throbbing. After the initial shock was gone, he was able to let out a heavy breath, letting his chest breathe finally. "I do feel so much lighter now. Holy crap. That seal was a little intense. How heavy was it again?"

"Only 10 kg," he lied with a smirk. "Guess you need to train a little bit more. I can start you off easier next time."

"No way Gramps! I won't have you take it easy on me! I'm gonna be the Hokage, remember?" The older man rolled his eyes, already getting a little annoyed at how many times he has heard 'Hokage' the last two days.

"Yeah yeah, I got it brat. Lets get some food. If you are able to move."

* * *

"This is stupid." A man remarked, currently loading up the handgun in his hand. "No way am I questioning Mizuki, but this is not his style at all." The man next to him shrugged, loading up some bags into the black car near them.

"Listen I don't care. From what it seems, Mizuki has a plan. Best to just follow his orders and get ready." Before the original man could interject, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Exactly. I have a plan. So it would do you good to not question me." He started to pale underneath his ski mask, his eyes meeting the cold eyes of Mizuki Tsubaki, who was wearing the same black attire as him, as well as a bulletproof vest.

"Y-yes sir. I never meant to q-question you!" He stammered out, closing his eyes in fear, which only made the silver-haired man chuckle and release his hold of him.

"Calm down. I'm going with you guys, so it's obviously not a suicide mission. See, this is the bank where the Ichiraku's keep their money. Hisayoshi failed to collect, so we got to do it the hard way." Mizuki gave them a small smile before holding up his assault rifle.

"Besides. Robbing a bank has always been a fantasy of mine."

* * *

"We always go on the busiest days, I swear!" Ino Yamanaka was pouting to her mom, who was currently standing in line at the Kagashi Bank.

"It's no bother really Ino. We have nothing else to do today." Her daughter rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and looking away in annoyance.

"Yeah speak for yourself. I got a bunch of crap I gotta do." Noriko Yamanaka looked down to her daughter, a small frown on her face. She was giving her daughter some space, in light of recent events, but she was still worried about her headspace. After all, Sakura Haruno experienced the same thing and she went into a coma.

"How are you feeling, dear? Everything okay?" Ino looked at her mom and let out a small sigh. Despite being related, they looked very different, with Ino having inherited most of her traits from her father, such as his blond hair and blue eyes, while Noriko had brown hair and a hazel color in her eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. I know I'm being a little bit of a brat. I'm just getting annoyed because of this whole Tempest thing." Her mother frowned at the mention of the vigilante's name. She did believe her daughter when she said that the hero had saved her, but she was still uneasy about the whole situation. Konoha randomly had some super powered man in its midst? It was a bit of a scary thought.

"I see you are still adamantly defending him, huh?" She turned to face her mom, a twinkle in her pale eyes.

"You bet! Everyone seems intent on bastardizing him and that is so not fair! Bad things would have happened to me and Sakura had he not been there mom." Her eyes went into a bit of a misty shade as she maintained her eye contact with the woman. "I really look up to the guy."

"I'm glad he was there Ino," she replied, looking forward in the line. She really was. After everything that was said about the wind guy, her daughter was right; Ino and Sakura would have been kidnapped had he not arrived. No matter what the media said about the man, he had her respect. Before she could think about it anymore, she heard a loud bang and turned to see a masked man bar the door shut, before another let off a volley of shots from a large gun into the ceiling, deafening most of the banks patrons.

"Listen up, all of y'all. Back away from the tellers. We are only here to take money from the bank, not any of you. But I will not hesitate to hurt anyone that doesn't listen." The masked man lowered the gun into a neutral position before adding on. "Everyone on the floor and against the wall."

* * *

 **2 HOURS EARLIER**

* * *

"Is that it for your report, Detective Mitarashi?" The young woman nodded at the two suited men in front her, blowing a piece of bubble gum up.

"S'bout it. You always have Iruka's dash footage, so feel free to watch that before you deem me unstable to be a police officer." The duo of suits looked at each other with a grimace. Everyone knew Anko's reputation of being very problematic. Regardless, the two IA officers were used to hostility and rose from their chairs.

"We will let you know about our investigate later." With a curt nod, the duo left the room, leaving Anko alone.

"Bastards," she muttered, leaning back in her chair. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts, she failed to hear the foot steps coming from the hallway.

"Well, a lot of people were injured it seems." She looked to her side quickly, seeing a suited man stand with a smile.

"Shisui Uchiha… What are you doing here? Don't you have some seals to club? Huh. Feel like I used that joke already," she pondered, looking away as the man chuckled. He looked like your typical Uchiha, but with a much gentler face. His hair was also curlier than the normal Uchiha straight, but he had the same onyx colored eyes.

"Always a charm to talk to. I'm glad you were able to get Sotatsu though. Seems like a major break in the Mizuki case. Not that it was your case to begin with," he gave a light chuckle and smiled, making her roll his eyes at him.

"I get it, your making fun of me. Well rub it in for now Shisui, but I'll be the one catching Mizuki!" She shouted defiantly and rising from her chair. He held his hands up, laughing.

"I don't doubt that Anko. But now that your IA interview is done, you should head to room B. I hear Ibiki is giving the man a run for his money. You better hurry if you want to defend your title as 'Best Interrogator'." He gave her a light smile, which she ignored. Realizing he was right, she pushed past him towards the hall.

For some reason, Anko always held a rivalry with Shisui Uchiha, which had always confused the man in question. As far as he was concerned, Anko was a fellow detective he wished to help. But no matter what, Anko took everything as a battle and always challenged the calm-hearted man. Personally, he didn't mind. Anko was always a wild card and always made him smile with her antics, so he always let it slide.

"I hear we are torturing without me!" Anko shouting, kicking in the door to the police side of Room B, startling Iruka and the other 2 officers in the room.

"Jesus, calm down there Anko." Genma muttered, holding his heart from the shock. Aoba nearby nodded, an angry expression on his face while Iruka rolled his eyes.

"Welcome back Anko. But I hate to tell you this. Sotatsu is giving Ibiki nothing." He gestured his head to the side, towards the glass window. She looked forward to see Ibiki shouting at Sotatsu, who was bruised and handcuffed to the desk in front of him. She wasn't able to make out Ibiki's words, since the glass muffled his sound and his back was turned to them, but it seemed as if Sotatsu wasn't scared at all.

"Let me take a crack at him." She stated, giving Iruka a vicious side smile. Near them, Aoba snorted.

"And risk even more deaths at your hands? No thanks." She turned to glare at him, but Genma nodded, grabbing the toothpick from his mouth.

"4 dead and 3 in critical condition at the hospital. You can't really fight his assessment, Anko." She wanted to fight them both, but she knew it would do no good. Instead, she walked past them, making sure to slam into Aoba's shoulder hard, almost knocking him down. Now in the hall, she entered the suspect side of Room B, just in time to see Ibiki growl in frustration.

"Detective Mitarashi, is there something I could help you with?" He spoke through gritted teeth, betraying his usual cool demeanor. Anko simply shut the door behind her with a smirk and stretched her arms out, cracking the fingers.

"Take a five captain. Let the good ol' JV team take a crack." He glared at her, surprised she had the audacity to this but he simply sighed. He had already been talking to Sotatsu for 30 minutes, so he supposed it wouldn't be too bad to let Anko take the reigns for a little.

"10 minutes." His voice was absolute and he didn't move until Anko nodded. After, he walked towards the door, slamming it with much unneeded force. Now that they were alone, Anko slowly swayed towards the center table, Sotatsu's hateful gaze following her until she rested her arms on the table and leaned forward.

"Sup cupcake?" She gave a small smirk, knowing full well it would anger him. "How's the hand? Missing any fingers or anything?" Instead of a response, he simply started to hack, getting ready to spit in her face. "Boy, you do that you will regret it." She cracked her neck to both sides, revealing a tattoo near her right back neck side. "Trust me on that." Instead of hacking at her, Sotatsu's eyes widened and he began to shake slightly, swallowing his spit.

"There's no way…" He started, put Anko put a finger to his lips.

"Shush now honey. We both know Mizuki isn't the real boss. We aren't here for that information. The only information I want is the simple question of 'where is Mizuki?" She moved her finger away from his mouth, giving him a sweet smile. "Aight?"

"Miki Motel. That's usually where he stays. He alternates between that and the Lava Rock Hotel. I didn't know who you were. I didn't mean to hurt you or your partner. Seriously, don't tell-"

"Shut up." He instantly froze, her eyes glaring daggers into the man's soul. "So Miki Motel huh? I guess we should hold you up and go get that rat bastard right away, huh?" He shook his head, gulping now.

"Mizuki will kill me, so yes please keep me here. But he's not there. The Kagashi Bank on Kanda Street. They are planning on robbing it at 3 PM today. Please look me up now. And tell Or-"

"Zip it!" She hissed, cutting him off and startling him. She turned to the glass, giving a thumbs up to it before walking towards the door. "They are coming to get you. And remember, if you talk, I'll rip your tongue out!" She stuck her own tongue out as emphasis before walking out towards the other side of Room B. Once she was away from Sotatsu, her playfulness vanished and her serious face appeared.

"We have to hurry. We have about an hour to get to Kagashi Bank. The Tsubaki gang have it marked for 3 today." Aoba and Genma exchanged a look, but Iruka had already grabbed his coat, while Ibiki was reaching for his walkie.

"Let's go Anko! We gotta get there now!" He tossed her the keys to his car, making her smirk. As she turned, Ibiki let out a short cough, making her look towards him, a playfully confused expression on her face.

"Good work Mitarashi." He muttered, reaching back for his walkie. She smiled before heading out the door with Iruka. "Well you heard her! Let's get moving!" Ibiki barked to Aoba and Genma, who both jumped and rushed towards the door in fear of the police lieutenant's wrath.

* * *

"Wow." Jiraiya looked in awe as Naruto shoveled the ramen down his face. He was already on his 8th bowl and didn't look like he was stopping anytime soon. On the other side of the booth, Ayame Ichiraku and Jiraiya Namikaze exchanged a worried look. Jiraiya still wasn't too keen on the idea that someone other than him knew Naruto's secret, but he certainly couldn't go back in time. He could erase Ayame memory. But it would take way too much blood ink to write down a seal that large. Plus, Naruto wouldn't approve of that notion. So, for now, he was dealing with Ayame.

"When I said if you could eat, I didn't expect you to take that as a challenge." Ayame chuckled a little, nodding at the blonde.

"Yeah and chill out. I know dad said you can eat here for free forever, but we do need to pay rent and all that." The older man chuckled next to her. With a loud slurp, Naruto gave them both a dirty look.

"I worked extra hard today on that _Daitoppa_ technique! I didn't fully get it, sure, but I'm exhausted! You can't blame me!" He continued to scarf his food down as he talked, now eyeing his 9th bowl. Ayame rolled her eyes and leaned forward on her arm. She was relaxed before she noticed the newscaster on the TV and read the headline.

"Touma! Turn the TV up!" The waiter near the hostess stand looked towards her before nodded and picking up the remote.

"We are still getting more information, but it seems an undisclosed group of men have taken over 6 people hostage at Kagashi Bank." Ayame's eyes widened as she watched the article, while Jiraiya and Naruto both looked over, horror in the Uzumaki's eyes.

"All we have at the moment is bank footage at the time of the robber's arrival. Police are currently swarming the bank, but no demands have been made as of now." Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the bank footage, recognizing the pixely picture of a blond girl he knew.

"That's Ino!" Naruto slammed the bowl down, rising from his seat before he felt the hands of Jiraiya hold him down.

"Calm down, Naruto! What are you going to go do?" He looked at him incredulously, wondering why he would even ask that.

"Getting my suit, no duh!" He whisper shouted, aware he was creating a small scene in the ramen shop. Next to him, Ayame nodded, pulling out his Bluetooth speaker.

"Sweet, let's do this. Take the receiver so we can talk." Jiraiya glared at the girl next to him, before turning back to Naruto.

"No not sweet! You can't seriously expect to go and stop this robbery, do you?" Naruto gave a fierce look to his grandfather, making the man groan. "There are 6 hostages in there. I only saw 2 gunmen, but that would be foolish to assume that was all there was. Naruto you do NOT want to aggravate these men. Someone will die." Naruto tried to shake the man's hold, but it was too strong.

"And I'm just supposed to sit here? The only person with the balls to rob a bank in Konoha is Mizuki's crew. He's insane. He killed that Hisayoshi guy for just failing to collect extortion money! He gets what he wants, everyone in that bank is dead!" Jiraiya paused, giving the blond a stern look before sighing and releasing his hold.

"I'm going to be on that call with Ayame. If you do not listen to what I say, I will personally see to it that you are never able to use your powers again, is that understood?" The blond gave a small nod before rushing towards the restaurants doors.

* * *

"Like I said. I don't want to hear no backtalk. Just slide the phones on over." One of the masked men said, a thick gruff accent in his voice. The bank wasn't too crowded on that day. Two tellers working the windows, with four customers inside. As of now, all six were huddled against the wall, fear in everyones eyes. Ino looked around, trying to avoid the deep panic in her chest. Next to her, her Noriko squeezed her hand.

"As he said, I'm here for the banks money. If this goes all according to plan, no one will be hurt," a smooth-talking man started, giving a small chuckle. "Hell, maybe all of you can have some of the money. Who wouldn't want some cash?" The man chuckled before walking away from the hostages. There were two men guarding the hostages, both armed with heavy duty assault rifles, while another was raiding the vault. Besides those three, the one that just spoke walked towards another, that was keeping an eye on the police.

"Boss, I know I already seemed to question ya, but this is a small bank. They got like 8 million at most. That's still a pretty big score, but for a crew of 5 guys, it isn't worth the effort." Unlike the rest of this crew, Koetsu Ozaki was an outsource for this job. He was considered one of the greatest heist members all across Japan, having done dozens of bank jobs. In Mizuki's eyes, this made him a large liability.

"You know, you have a point Koetsu." The man's eyes narrowed. You never say someone's real name on a heist. Unless you were planning on shooting them in the back.

"Now, you listen here Mi-" Before he could finish, Mizuki placed his hand on his shoulder and slithered behind him within the blink of an eye, and snapped the mans neck before he could even scream.

"Ahhhhh!" A woman sitting near Ino saw the event and heard the loud crack in the quiet bank before his body dropped, causing her to scream.

"Lady, you better shut the hell up!" One of the men shouted, putting the gun to her head, turning her loud scream into a lip-biting whimper.

"Wolf, what was with that?" The other hostage guard turned to face Wolf, which was Mizuki's code name, who cracked his neck.

"Koetsu was a liability anyway. His fame got to his head. Good riddance. Anyone else want to piss me off?" His smooth voice turned slightly darker, a twisted smile etched under his mask. Noriko was starting to sweat, nervous about being trapped inside this room with a mad man, and deathly worried about Ino, who was now starting to show signs of panic.

' _Attacked earlier and now this? Can't I ever get a break? There's no way Tempest is going to save me again. There has to be something… Think Ino think!'_ She continued to monologue inside her head as the man from the banks vault arrived, 2 large bags in hand.

"Little bigger than we thought. About 8.6 mil. Good number for 5," he glanced to see Koetsu's lifeless body on the floor. "Er… Good number for 4 people, huh?" He corrected, looking back towards the two guarding the hostages. Mizuki smiled, looking towards his other men.

"He's right! That's a great haul for 3 people!" The man looked confused and turned his head towards Mizuki, who quickly whipped his handgun out and let out a loud bang, making some of the hostages scream. The man's body thudded to the ground, a red liquid splattered over the floor. Ino started to breath heavily, her eyes wide in terror before her mother covered her eyes, forcing her to not look at the gruesome scene. The man from earlier slammed into Mizuki, anger seething through his mask.

"What the hell are you doing!? These are your men!" Mizuki laughed, pushing the man off him slightly before looking towards the ceiling.

"How many more of my men do I have to kill for you to come out? I know you've been here since I snapped poor little Koetsu's neck! Come on out and face the music, you wind sonofabitch!" Almost instantly, a giant gust of wind burst through the bank, knocking the rifles out of both guards hands. Using the surprise of the wind, a blue figure landed on top of one guard, stunning him. Before he could react, he opened his eyes to see a fist zooming towards his face. The next thing he knew, he went limp and unconscious.

"You're a sick bastard." Tempest rose, his new suit swaying with the wind he produced. Mizuki smiled, taking a step towards the vigilante.

"Nice to finally meet ya, wind brat."

* * *

"With the vigilante knocking that one out, it seems we only have two assailants now." Inside a van, Anko and Iruka were watching the screen, fierce looks on their eyes.

"We still have six hostages, 7 now with the vigilante here." Iruka stated, rubbing his chin in thought. Near him, Anko nodded, taking a look at Ibiki.

"Is your team ready?" Ibiki took his eyes off the screen, rising from the seat next to the woman who was piloting the camera.

"Almost. It seems the vigilante did a good. Based on this footage, he minimized the most risk to the hostages by waiting until they were all together." Anko nodded, placing a hand on her hip.

"Yeah. He definitely didn't plan on Mizuki slaughtering his own men, but he also huddled the two criminals towards the south-west side of the bank, making it so he stood as a clear buffer between them and the hostages. Smart of him (Somewhere in the distance, Jiraiya let out a small smirk, pressing the button on the headset he was wearing)." Iruka, looking at his fellow officers, nodded.

"That wind he shot out also. It seemed to be only used as a disarm and a distraction, making it so no one had any access to their weapons." The three officers nodded, all agreeing with their assessment, while the girl controlling the camera rolled her eyes.

"Okay team exposition. They see to be talking, but about what, I can't tell." The glasses-wearing girl spoke, looking towards them. Shiho Hisajima had worked with lots of officers in the past, but these three were certainly the strangest.

"Iruka, keep us updated on the events. Ibiki and I are going to get the SWAT in position." He nodded, taking the seat next to Shiho. With that done, Anko and Ibiki walked out of the van into the sun, where dozens of people were watching the scene at the bank, as well as a good number of reporters.

"I'm gonna scope out the building a little more. Where's Shisui? You would think your Head Detective would be here already." He snorted, his face almost showing a small smile. ALMOST.

"He decided to let you have the honors today. You're acting Head Detective for this case. So make sure no one dies this time, alright Anko?" She rolled her eyes before sneering at the man.

"Two people are dead already, so I failed that already. Bet that's what that bastard Shisui wanted." Ibiki groaned, not wanting to hear about this rivalry again. "I'm still going to go and check stuff out. Keep me updated Lieutenant." He nodded, deciding it would be better to let Anko do her own thing.

"Okay wind man. How did you get in with no one noticing?" She walked down the alley way, looking for any signs of a break in. She noticed some stairs at the adjacent building leading up. Looking up, she realized the gap in buildings wasn't as big as one would think.

"It's what I would do," she muttered, walking towards the stairs of the building.

* * *

"At ease, boy. No one was supposed to get hurt if they followed the rules. It's not my fault they didn't." Naruto growled, clenching his fists in anger.

"You killed two people! Just slaughter them like they didn't even matter!" The masked man gave a light chuckle, placing his hand on his hip.

"And you simple watched. So, tell me then; Who is the real villain here, wind guy?" Naruto started to growl once more, taking a step forward.

"The name is Tempest. And I won't let you hurt any of these innocent people!" He nodded, cracking his knuckles and looking towards his comrade.

"Exactly. He only allows us to hurt other criminals. Those lives don't matter to him. Dispose of him so we can be on our way." The other masked man gave him a glare but complied anyway. He knew if he refused to listen to Mizuki Tsubaki, he would end up dead regardless. He charged towards Tempest with a fist raised, aiming for the man's head.

"Get out of the way!" Side stepping slightly, he placed his hands up while dodging the first punch. Quickly, he lowered one and delivered an open palm strike to the man's side, startling him slightly. Before he could get back into position, Naruto jumped back, making the man swing at air.

"Little bastard, huh?" He got back into a fighting stance with his hands up and ready to fight. Thanks to his earlier training, Naruto was already starting to breathe heavily.

"Concentrate on your breathing kid. You will wind yourself hard. Find your opening and strike. Hell, use the _Daitoppa_ if you can. Just condense it!" There was shuffling in his ear, which he assumed was Ayame taking the Bluetooth receiver from Jiraiya.

"Don't let those people get hurt! You use your wind and send them through the walls!" There was more shuffling as Naruto rolled his eyes.

' _Hard to concentrate guys,'_ he mumbled in his head, focusing on the man in front of him instead. After a few seconds of silence, the man charged forward in a sprint. In his very open stance, Naruto ducked down, sending an open palm upwards, using the wind to increase the strength. He connected with the man, sending him flying upwards. As he crashed down, his body fell limp, going unconscious immediately. The hostages cheered slightly, some clapping, Ino yelling her support. Naruto turned to them slightly, his blue eyes meeting Ino's.

"Bravo." The sharp voice of Mizuki, followed by the light cadence of his clapping alerted Naruto to the man's presence. "I must say that was quite a punch, wind guy. I guess I should say Tempest now though, huh? Always seeming to be a thorn in my side. Ever since the Ichiraku's." Naruto's eyes tensed up at that, a feeling not missed by Mizuki.

"A soft spot huh? I wonder what I should do to them. The old man and the young girl. I could destroy everything. Would that appease you?" The outline of a smirk was seen through the man's mask, angering Naruto further.

"Tempest no!" Jiraiya shouted in the headset, but Naruto was in full rage mode. Charging towards the man, the wind helped Naruto speed up, rushing towards the man faster; which only surprised Naruto more when Mizuki easily moved out of the punch, slamming his fist into Naruto's face as he flew by.

"Grah!" With the enhanced wind, Tempest flew towards the ground, crashing with a small thud. Mizuki laughed, crouching down to look at the vigilante.

"You really think that was going to get me? Come on Tempest. Use that head of yours. I'm way above your league, brat." He spat out the last part, rising from his position. "I'll enjoy killing YOU!" He shouted the end, sending a kick to Tempest's side and sending him skittering a few feet. "Come on! Where's all that gumption when you were beating my men!" He went to kick the blonde again, but he held his hand up, shooting a small gust of wind. It wasn't strong enough to knock Mizuki away, but it let Naruto's body slide away. Using the moment of freedom, he was able to rise, clutching his side in pain.

' _This is bad. He's so much faster than everyone else I've faced! I need to find a way to stop him and save these people,'_ He started to think, looking at everyone and seeing their horrified expressions.

"Police are getting ready to break in. You need to just keep Mizuki busy until they are in position, got it?" Jiraiya told him through the earpiece. He knew what he needed to do, it was just a lot easier said than done.

 _'I just can't let him get over to this side!'_ Naruto thought to himself, watching Mizuki begin a charge towards him. 'I got this!' Thrusting his hand forward, a giant gust of wind shot out.

" _Daitoppa_!" Tempest shouted, the wind sending Mizuki back to his side of the bank, a sneer on his face. The wind itself shot Naruto back a few feet, a smile on his face.

"What a nice little technique you have there. A lot stronger than the wind you have been using since. All it took was some people to die before you actually start trying, huh?" Mizuki was trying to get into his head again, which was starting to work on Naruto, who already had a strained image with the public.

"Don't you talk about Tempest like that, you long-armed freak!" Mizuki glared at the girl behind Tempest, now subconscious thinking about his slightly longer-than-average arms. Tempest glanced behind him to see Ino, a triumphant smile on her face, while a brunette woman was grabbing her arm and pulling her back to the ground.

"Keep your eyes on Mizuki!" Jiraiya shouting, making Naruto turn back just in time. Mizuki was sending a kick towards Naruto's head, faster than he's ever seen. With an almost flash of red in his eyes, he was able to duck the kick and placed both his feet at a ready position, his arm raised forward with the other hand holding it.

" _Daitoppa_!" From his position, he kicked off the ground from the burst, landing a few feet in front of the hostages, while Mizuki was blown away, almost near his original position.

 _'Damn brat! The attack is too fast for me to even activate my powers!'_ Mizuki's anger was clearly displayed on his face as he thought about his options. Suddenly, his anger vanished and was replaced with a neutral look, straightening his position as he did. _'No matter. Police are about to barge in. It's about time I made my move.'_

"You're better than I thought Tempest. But it's over now. You ever wonder why I huddled all of them in one spot?" He smirked, raising a fist over his chest, showing off a watch. Naruto's eyes widened, looking towards the people and Mizuki.

"Wait no-" He raised his hand to shoot off another daitoppa, but it was too late. He pressed his watch, signaling a loud explosion to go off. Almost instantly, above Tempest and the hostages, an explosion erupted, causing all the debris from the bank to fall towards the screaming hostages.

"SHIT!" Almost instinctively, he jumped towards them, extending his arms. A large gust blew suddenly, stopping the debris and all that from failing, but he was merely able to keep them in place. He fell to the floor, now on his back with all the debris a mere 12 centimeters away from the closest hostage. Mizuki gave a chuckle, watching in awe. Before he could give a remark, a bullet went off near him, making his eyes widen and he dodged the bullet that was aiming for his leg. Near the debris, Anko Mitarashi was holding her handgun with a grin.

"Got you now, Mizuki Tsubaki." The man narrowed his eyes at the detective, his handgun already in his hand.

"No idea who you are talking about. But man are you a pain in the ass!" She snorted, giving a small head-shrug.

"What can I say? I'm like a goddamn infection." She took a step forward, when Naruto let out a scream.

"Anko! Help get these people out!" She turned, a small glare on her face to see the debris struggling to stay up, the people all watching in horror at their almost smashed fate, and the laying form of Tempest, hands extended as far as they could, and a pleading look in his eyes. "Forget Mizuki for now and help these people." She grit her teeth and sent another look to Mizuki, who as smirking at her, as if to challenge her. With an expletive, she lowered her own gun and rushed towards the people.

"Alright come on everyone! It's a small gap so one at a time." She started to lead people out, all of them struggling to stay calm. Eventually, everyone was out besides for Noriko and Ino, who was staying near Tempest.

"That's the second time you've saved me. You're like my guardian angel, huh?" He tried to chuckle, his strength quickly fading at keeping up the wind he was still not used to controlling. "You'll have to meet me under better circumstances next time." She placed a quick peck on his hood, near the forehead. Luckily, his hood and mask were able to hide the blush, but he still could feel his face rising in heat. Ino gave a quick giggle before she followed her mother, making Tempest the only one under the rocks.

* * *

"That's all of them. Wind Guy is still in there, but we need to find Mizuki! He had to have gone out a side entrance." Anko started to bark orders to her fellow officers, ignoring Ino shouting 'Tempest!' near her. Ibiki scoffed, grabbing his walkie.

"Impossible. All vantage points were covered." He pressed the button down on the walkie. "What's it look like on your fronts, everyone sound off." After a small pause, the static of the walkie clicked on.

"This is Hawk 1, all clear on my front. Over."

"Hawk 2 here. I caught the explosion from inside Kagashi Bank, but no assailants. Over." There was a pause, causing Ibiki to look in confusion.

"Hawk 3, what is your status?" After another pause, the static cleared.

"Uh, this is Hawk 4. All quiet in my quadrant." Ibiki turned to Anko, her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Hawk 3, where is he?" Ibiki gestured towards the roof of the adjacent building Anko had climbed earlier.

"Roof of the Shinjoku building. Let's move." Ibiki and Anko started to rush towards the building when she turned and gestured to the bank, all while still running.

"Get the Tempest guy. We need to have a chat with him!" The SWAT leader nodded, gesturing for his men to head inside the building.

* * *

"Konoha PD, freeze!" Ibiki shouted in his booming voice, handgun at the ready; but he failed to see anyone, except for a fresh corpse. "Anko, come up. But stay frosty." He walked towards the body, Anko trailing behind him. Walking up, they saw the man that was codenamed Hawk 3 laying in a puddle of his own blood, his throat slit.

"Damn. How was he able to get so close to him?" Anko muttered, grimacing slightly at the man. Near her, Ibiki reached down and pushed inside the man's jacket pocket, where a small card was sticking out. He read it then showed Anko, his hand shaking with rage.

'THANKS FOR THE TIP'

* * *

"Thanks to the combined effort of the police and local vigilante, now known to be named as Tempest, all six hostages were rescued safely. Unfortunately, there were several casualties, all a result of the mastermind of the bank attack, who is still unnamed. Police are still on the case for discovering who in fact was responsible. Despite all this negative news, I think the world can agree that Tempest is indeed proven that he is not a menace to the world."

* * *

"You did good, kid." Jiraiya gave a pat to Naruto's back, who was currently sitting in a booth, resting on the table.

"I need to sleep for 8 years," he mumbled, his face in the table. Lucky for him, with the event going on and after it was all said and done, Ichiraku was able to close early. So Naruto was sitting without his hood and mask on, but still wearing the same outfit.

"Mizuki got away, but everyone was saved and that's what matters." He moved his head to the side, able to see Jiraiya and Ayame's supportive faces now.

"Thanks guys. I'm just beat. I had to rush out of there after everyone was gone. If the police had me, they no doubt would have tried to taken me in." Jiraiya nodded, crossing his arms.

"Yeah and having to escape from the cops would not have been a good image for you." Naruto sighed, looking up slightly, as if to nod without moving his head. Before they could say anything else, they heard a knock at the door. Ayame groaned, rising from the adjacent seat of Naruto's.

"I put a freaking sign on the door!" Ayame muttered angrily, stomping towards the door. "Hey, we had to close ear... ly." She stopped in her tracks, a somber look on her face before turning towards the duo.

"What's going on, Ayame?" Jiraiya was on alert, making sure Naruto's form wasn't visible to whoever was outside the glass door. Luckily, Naruto was laying in a both that could only be seen from a side window, but all of them were covered because of the blinds.

"It's uh... It's Lee." Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, while Naruto let out a sigh. He wondered what Lee had wanted. Probably going to expose him to the police for him going out again as Tempest.

"Let him in." Naruto's voice was soft, almost a whisper. Jiraiya rose from his seat in anger, glaring at the boy.

"You are in your suit! You can't just let someone in here! You'll expose your iden-"

"He already knows." Naruto rose up slightly, now sitting up straight in the booth after cutting off his grandfather. "He was the one who was training me to fight. He found out and told me he didn't want to see me." For once in his life, the elder Namikaze was at a loss for words and was only brought back to reality when the sound of the lock's click rang out. In silence, Lee walked in the restaurant, not looking either Ayame or Jiraiya in the eyes. After a few steps, he stopped in front of the booth and looked up, eyes locking with Naruto, still in his new suit. They both were quiet until the lock clicked once more, locking them in the building.

"I'm sorry I hit you the other day. It was not right of me to strike you like that." He bowed to the Uzumaki boy, a solemn tone etched in his voice. Naruto chuckled slightly.

"You're gonna make me feel weird. Don't bow Lee," Lee nodded slightly, rising from his bow to look him back in the eyes. "You're okay. You thought I was some criminal that was beating up people." Lee felt his fists clench and he shut his eyes, shaking his head violently.

"And that was wrong! I had falsely judged you from what I had seen on TV and it wasn't right! It was dumb of me! I could see you only wanted the right things and I was wrong!" He sniffled, trying to hide tears that were starting to fall. "I saw the news today. You saved all those people. You're a hero." Naruto bit his lip, watching Lee with his own eyes starting to water. "You swooped in and made sure everyone escaped safely! You aren't some heartless vigilante! You're a true hero to Konoha!" He shouted, the tears actually starting to hit his chin before quickly dropping into a bow. "I'm sorry, Naruto!" A silence filled the air, Lee remaining in his bow. Ayame and Jiraiya looked at one another before they glanced at the blonde, who had a teary-eyed smile on his face.

"I'm no hero, Lee. Not yet at least. Everyone I saved was because of luck. I can't fight to save my life, especially against this Mizuki guy." He rose from his seat, placing a hand on Lee's shoulder, making him rise up and look the hero in his eyes once again. "But I would love to keep training with you, and to become a true hero." He couldn't contain it anymore and tears flew down his eyes, happiness in his face.

"I would love to train with you once again, Naruto! Together, we can work and you can become the hero Konoha needs!" Lee wore a smile and released his hold on Naruto, wiping away his tears.

"You want to help me in more ways then training, don't you?" Jiraiya finally spoke up, startling Lee slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jiraiya shouting and crossed his arms, eyes shut. "Yeesh, I get it! All three of you want to train and help Naruto!" Lee looked shocked and looked between the old man and the laughing Naruto. Next to him, Ayame laughed flexing her arm.

"Thought you'd never ask Pervy Gramps!" He scowled at her, glaring daggers and the now laughing brunette. Near them, Lee let out one final chuckle.

"I'm not sure who you are exactly. But if you are training Naruto, I am sure you are a strong and wise person. I would gladly accept the training you are offering Pervy Gramps." Jiraiya shot another look towards Lee, while the other two teens burst out in laughter. Lee joined them with a chuckle. With all three laughing, Jiraiya rolled his eyes with a smile, simply happy that everything had ended up okay.

* * *

"Damnnit," a small whisper escaped the lips of one Mizuki Tsubaki. He took a sip of the alcoholic drink near him, his mouth lingering on the glass. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand, an angry expression on his face.

"I'm going to get that Tempest bastard. And that detective. Anko Mitarashi." He blinked in pain, raising his other hand to his face, feeling a blotch of liquid under his nose. Raising his hand towards his face, there was a small patch of red liquid.

"I can't use it that much. I'll give myself a brain hemorrhage." He wiped the blood away, glaring towards the TV. After a few moments of silence, he let out a small growl, clenching his fist and shattering the glass in his hand. Nearby, a guard that worked for him gulped, and yelped when Mizuki looked towards him.

"Get me everything you can about the Ichirakus."

* * *

"We were so close. Damnnit!" Anko slammed her hands to the table, a growl in her voice. Near her, Ibiki sighed and sat down at his desk.

"It's no matter. We also have no proof it was Mizuki. The hostages are safe and that's all that matters. All we can do now is investigate the Miki Motel that Mizuki seems to frequent." Before she could respond to the lieutenant, Iruka rushed into the main officer, breathing heavily.

"Anko! Ibiki! It's Sotatsu!" Almost instantly, Anko was on her feet, rushing towards the holding cells. Reaching them, she clenched her fists, almost making her hands bleed from the hard clench. In front of them, a prison cell was open, with the body of Sotatsu lying in a puddle of his own blood.


	8. Episode 8: Calm Before The Storm!

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Some update notes:**

 **So we are getting close to hitting the mid-season finale of Tempest. If things go according to plan, that finale will be Episode 11. With that looming forward, a lot of our characters are hitting their desperation points.**

 **With that said, I want it to be said that we have finally hit the official Team Tempest: Naruto Uzumaki, Rock Lee, Ayame Ichiraku and Jiraiya Namikaze. No one else will be joining Team Tempest until this season is done.**

 **A cameo will be included at the end of this chapter, hinting at other plans I have for this story. I'm sure most of you will be able to pick up on it, but it will probably be left vague.**

 **Anyway, enjoy Episode 8 of Tempest!**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 8: Calm Before the Storm**

* * *

"I don't know who to trust anymore," Ibiki started, watching the few officers in his room. "Sotatsu Murayama was found dead inside his cell late yesterday. Myself, Umino and Mitarashi were all at Kagashi Bank during the incident, while Shiranui and Yamashiro were in route to the scene. Uchiha was busy handling the other case files during my absence." The 5 police detectives (Iruka was pretty much a full detective by this point) all gave each other a small glance before turning their attention back to Ibiki.

"It seems we have people here at Konoha PD on the Tsubaki payroll. We need to figure out who this." There was silence in the room before Aoba Yamashiro coughed, gaining the attention of everyone.

"Believe me sir, I do want to catch these guys, but shouldn't we leave this to Internal Affairs?

"Yeah, I have to say Aoba's right. IA has already conducted an investigation for Anko," Genma gestured to the dark-haired woman, who scowled at him. "Surely, they can handle investigating on this Mizuki thing?" Near him, Shisui Uchiha sighed, crossing his arms.

"The only issue is that only a select few knew about the snipers' positions. It wasn't knowledge that just any officer knew. Sure, lot's of the detectives knew, but we don't know who. We were all busy, but a lot of them weren't. We also don't know if the IA agents work for Mizuki. Honestly, we are on our own here." Ibiki nodded, looking at them all once again.

"Agreed. So as of this moment, the six people in this room are a part of the Mizuki Task Force. With all that's going on, I can't trust anyone besides the occupants of this room. I still want Tempest captured, but as of right now, discovering our dirty cops and catching Mizuki is top priority. All of you but Mitarashi and Uchiha are dismissed." Aoba and Genma exchanged a look before walking out of the lieutenant's glass door. Iruka lingered a second, unsure before Anko gave him a small grin and gestured for him to leave.

"What's up, cupcake?" Anko began, now that they were alone. Shisui gave a light chuckle, while Ibiki let his hard stare remain.

"What I'm about to ask of you two is of outmost importance. It cannot leave this room, is that understood?" She felt a frown develop on her face, but she nodded. Near her, Shisui's face changed from his carefree one to a more neutral one. "I want you both to investigate Umino, Yamashiro and Shiranui exclusively. Leave the investigate the precinct to me and them, but I want them investigated by you two." Anko's look morphed into one of anger, her placing her arms down on the table and leaning towards the large man.

"Excuse me? You want me to see if Iruka is some traitor?" Shisui gave her a small glance, while Ibiki sighed bringing his hands towards his face in an intertwined thinking pose.

"That is exactly what I want. We are checking every avenue here, Mitarashi. Detective Umino was able to get us a lead on Mizuki from his old informants, but that doesn't bode well for him at this juncture. I don't think Umino is on Mizuki's payroll, if that makes you feel any better. As for the others..." He began, but Anko scoffed, rising from the table and interrupting him.

"No dirty cop wants to go to IA willingly." Ibiki narrowed his eyes at her and looked towards Shisui, who shrugged.

"I wouldn't have said it like that, but she has a point. I understand. I'll take a close look at Aoba and Genma. I don't think either of them are crooked, but I'll find out." Ibiki nodded at his Head Detective, who gave a small bow and walked out. Anko began to follow him when Ibiki spoke up.

"Mitarashi, wait." Anko froze, looking back at her boss as the door closed in front of her. With a small breath, Ibiki's posture relaxed slightly.

"I'm sorry, Anko. At the moment, you're the only person I can trust will get me the results we need on these dirty cops." Anko narrowed her eyes slightly, turning back towards him with her arms crossed.

"I thought I was a killer. Someone not worthy of being a police officer."

"I've never said that. If anyone deserved to be a bringer of justice, it would be you Anko. You're not as soft as Uchiha. You're just as good of a detective, if not better. Had it not been all the infractions you had..." He trailed off, looking towards the shining sun in his office's windows.

"If not for being psycho, I would have had a job, huh? Two cops shoot a perp. The man who fired his weapon is praised and given the role as Head Detective. The woman gets sent to IA and told she's not fit for a badge." He frowned, knowing that was exactly how the event of last year happened.

"Anko, don't. This isn't a sexism thing." She scoffed, giving him a slight side smile.

"It is. It always will be too. Shisui and I both fired, but I was the one that was labeled as a basket case. I hear the rumors around the station. I don't give a damn though. I know I'm doing my job correctly." There was silence in the office, both of them soaking it in. After what seemed like hours, Ibiki rose from his seat.

"I'm sorry. Things didn't go how I wanted. I can't change that. We can only move forward from there. And you are the only one I can trust that isn't bad." She instinctively reached for her neck, rubbing her left shoulder.

"And how do you know, I'm not bad? That I wasn't the bad guy this entire time?" He looked towards her shoulder than back to her eyes, which were seeming to challenge him.

"Because the past doesn't define you. You aren't who you were. And I see the need for doing good in your eyes. What happened to you. What you were made to do… That isn't who Anko Mitarashi is." She chuckled slightly, never used to the lieutenant's soft words. Despite everything that happened between them, Ibiki Morino was probably the one that knew the most about her.

"Yeah, whatever." She chuckled, turning to walk out of the office. "I'll see what I can dig up. We'll find Mizuki's men." She walked away with a thumbs up. As she passed through the door, Ibiki let out a small smile. Near the glass door, his receptionist looked in with a smile, making his vanish.

"What are you looking? Get back to work." With a frown, he pulled the blinds down, just making his receptionist chuckle before resuming her work.

* * *

"Naruto! Ayame! We are almost done! Let's go!" Lee shouted, running in place. Near him, Jiraiya was laughing, his arms crossed.

"Yeah, come on guys. Lee's waiting on you slowpokes!" Jiraiya was standing near Lee, at the top of the hill. Like usual, Jiraiya was wearing his usual outfit of a long-sleeve shirt and red vest, as well as nice black slacks. Next to him, Lee was wearing his usual green gym attire; the green workout shorts, and the tight green compression short-sleeve shirt. Unlike before, he was wearing a white tank-top over the tight shirt. Near the top of the hills edge, Ayame and Naruto walked forward slowly, both wobbling before falling to the ground in pain. Like before, Naruto was in his normal training attire, which consisted of his white-tank top and jogger sweatpants (minus the mask and compression shirt). Next to him on the floor, Ayame was wearing a pair of tight shorts, as well as a black workout top, her hair in a bun at her head.

"Excuse me. Going to sleep now. Forever," Naruto mumbled out, his words slurring. Ayame coughed slightly, trying to nod her head from the floor.

"Death awaits. No refunds. Goodbye." Like before, all three of them had the seal over their clothes, dramatically increasing the weight of them. While this seemed to hinder Naruto and Ayame heavily, it seemed to only be a minor annoyance to Lee.

"Yosh! We have all made it to the top, Jiraiya-sensei!" Lee stopped his jumping and faced Jiraiya at attention. He turned to the others, point a thumb at Lee.

"See, I like him. Why can't you two be more like him?" Jiraiya looked away just as the duo gave the older man a collective middle finger.

* * *

"I'm fine really." Sakura started, her hands in a playful defense, a chuckle in her voice. In front of her hospital bed, Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno watched, mild concern on their faces. Next to them, Ino was scoffing and crossed her arms.

"As if, Billboard Brow. You stay in here and you rest up, okay? It doesn't matter how long it takes, you need to get better, okay?" Sakura, rolled her eyes, a small tick on her face at Ino's remark.

"I said I'm fine Ino-pig! Now, I'm ready to get out of this bed!" Ino opened her mouth to shoot another vulgar retort when a small cough from Mebuki distracted her.

"It's okay Sakura. The doctor's said you should be all cleared by tomorrow. We just don't want you to leave early and potentially hurt yourself. Could you do that for us?" She held her husbands hand, her eyes slightly watering. Sakura looked between them and sighed, a smile on her face.

"Yeah okay. I'll stay here if it gives you peace of mind." Thankfully, now that she was more coherent, she was okay being in the presence of her father. It had really hurt her once she found out about her locking up on her father, but thanks to the close relationship they have managed over the years, she was able to bounce back. However, the male doctors that were helping her all made her heart almost stop and escalated her blood pressure to almost freak-out levels. She had discussed it with the doctors, who were now all females, thankfully, and they reached a general consensus about her newly developed fear of men.

It annoyed her. She wasn't scared of men! She really wasn't! There was just something about being near men that made her body lock-up and freeze now. She guessed she maybe subconsciously had this fear, but she knew it was stupid of her, but she wasn't going to bring that up again. She had tried earlier with Ino, and she was almost scolded into oblivion to not think her fear was stupid.

"But, can I catch up a little with Ino? It's been a bit since we had actual girl time." Her mother chuckled, giving her daughter a small nod. Next to her, Kizashi gave a small salute to her before walking out. Now that it was just Ino and Sakura in the room, the pinkette's face turned into a frown slightly.

"He's so scared to even talk to me. I know he hates me now." Ino rolled her eyes, sitting in the small chair near her bed.

"As if. Your dad loves you so much. He doesn't want to hurt your healing until he knows your perfectly okay. Which is super dope of him."

"So tell me again," Sakura sat up, her eyes fully on Ino now. "He saved you at the bank?" Caught off guard, her face turned a bright shade of crimson and she looked away.

"Y-yeah! Some bank robbery I guess! He swooped in and blew the bad guys away! It was so cool! And then the guy tried to kill us and escape with some bomb, but Tempest was like, 'Not today!' and then he saved us with like some force field." Sakura giggled slightly, making the girl frown. "What?"

"Nothing! It's just cute when you talk about him. Your nerd side comes out." The blonde blushed harder, a scowl on her face now. It wasn't something she had advertised openly, but Ino was actually a huge comic book fan, having read them with her dad since she was little. Unfortunately, she didn't think it would go well with her popular image if people knew she was into that kind of stuff, so she bottled that up and only her closest friends know.

"Oh shut up! I just wasn't expecting to see him again!" She chuckled slightly, looking at the floor. "I kissed him too." Sakura gasped, lightly smacking the girl next to her.

"You did not! Oh my God Ino!" She chuckled at the girl.

"Okay okay, not on the lips or anything! Like his cheek. Nothing wild. Just letting him know I'm interested, ya feel?" Sakura rolled her eyes before resting back in the bed, looking at the ceiling.

"I think about him a lot. I didn't really get a chance to see him. I honestly don't really remember that day." Ino started shaking her head.

"Sakura, don't even. You don't need to think about it ever again, okay? Just remember that everything is fine." The blonde smiled at her friend, who returned the smile. Unknown to Ino, Sakura remembered everything. She remembered freezing and getting grabbed by those sick men. She already remembered the hero arriving and saving both her and Ino. Seeing him fight. All of it. She couldn't help but feel jealous about it though. Not that Ino had a crush on the guy, no she could care less. But the fact he had powers.

"I know. I know. It's bad to think about." But she couldn't help it. She didn't want some guy to come and save her. She should have been able to save herself.

"But yeah. I saw him again. He has a new suit. Looking mighty fine if you ask me." She gave a sharp roll of her tongue, winking at Sakura. Why couldn't she have powers like that? It wasn't fair. But it's not fair to blame that on Tempest either. As far as she knew, he was just some guy that was thrust into this wacky world, same as her.

"Well, you're into him so he can't be that hot." Ino growled, giving the girl a dirty look before smiling. He was a hero. She saw the reports on the news. You couldn't deny it no matter what. The man was a hero, plain and simple. But, why? Did the powers make him a hero? As far as most people were concerned, that was what made someone a super hero.

"Ha ha you're so funny. Anyway, I guess that's good news for you huh?" She replied sarcastically, before stretching slightly. Sakura tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, duh! Once Tempest and I get married, Sasuke is all free game to you!" Ino giggled slightly, closing her eyes with her smile. She forgot all about Sasuke. A small frown crept on her face, something Ino noticed almost immediately after opening her eyes. "He's asked about you, ya know? If you were okay," she lied, hoping to see her face light up. It worked slightly, as the pinkette was wearing a small smile.

"Oh really? I'm glad. I must have worried the class so much." Ino shrugged, rising from the chair.

"Yeah. I told most of them to back off. Everyone just wanted to know what happened and where you were, and I was like, 'dude no.' I mean, some where nice and just wanted to make sure you were okay, like Naruto, but most of them just wanted to pry." Ino crossed her arms, and looked away from her friend, thinking about their class.

"Wait Naruto? He really asked?" She was aware of who Naruto was, but was thoroughly surprised he would have asked about her well-being. As far as she was aware, all she ever did was make fun of him with Ino.

"Yeah. He seemed genuinely concerned. Threw me off so much. I mean, we all know he got's the hots for you, but so does a bunch of other guys, and all they wanted to do was blame Tempest and whack him in the face," she snorted, giving her friend a sly smirk. "I wish they would try. They'd see a real man lay them out." While Ino chuckled to herself, Sakura was busy thinking about the blonde student.

"Ino… Are we bad people?" Ino stopped talking abruptly, looking at the girl in thought. After a few seconds, she gave her a smile.

"No. At least you're not. You followed in my lead. You're a good person, Sakura." She frowned at the girl, her head deep in thought as Ino simply resumed her talk about the guys in their school.

* * *

"What do you mean, boss?" Mizuki Tsubaki sat in his motel room, his knife in hand. He was sitting on the bed, one of his legs bent towards his face, the other dangling off the bed.

"I said, lay low for now." He turned his head to face one of the men at his doorway, an unusually disheveled look on his face. "Is there a problem with that?" The man gulped, shaking his head quickly. "Good," he spat, facing forward once again and starting to twirl his knife, catching it perfectly. "I have some plans, but after the bank stunt, the police are on high alert. My guys are keeping me updated on those events, but it doesn't hurt to play it safe." His men all sent a nod before departing his room, all of them equally scared of what Mizuki would do to them if they lingered. Now alone, he sighed, a growl slowly escaping his lips.

"Just you wait, Tempest…"

* * *

 **2 WEEKS LATER**

* * *

"I got you now!" Jiraiya gave his grandson a smirk as he stepped back, dodging the swipe by a few centimeters. At the same instant, Ayame appeared behind the elder man, a triumphant smile on her face.

"You're mine now, old man!" Twisting his heel in the dirt, Jiraiya kicked off towards his left, jettisoning him out of the way and causing the blonde and brunette to bonk heads painfully.

"Close but no cigars. Try harder next time kiddies." He gave a small giggle, twirling a small visible ball of air on his finger. Before anything else could be said, a huge gust of wind blew past them, as a small blue blur flew past Jiraiya. Behind him, a chuckle was heard.

"You let your guard down, Jiraiya-sensei. I win the exercise, I'm afraid." The elder Namikaze turned his head slightly, just enough for Lee to see a sly smirk on his face. The bowl-headed boy's eyes widened as he looked in his hand, the flag having the kanji for 'fool' on it. Looking back up, Jiraiya's palm was a few centimeters from his face before a quick gust of wind blew the boy back towards a tree's trunk.

"You all did a lot better. Naruto and Ayame. You both have increased your strength and stamina immensely these last two weeks. You can't always rely on your powers speeding up your movement though Naruto. You need to get faster. Same with you Ayame. But don't rush it too much. Rome wasn't built in a day and you don't want to destroy your muscles." The two in question nodded, taking the criticism happily between their heavy breaths. He turned towards Lee, a smile on his face.

"You're the one that's scaring me kid. Your speed and stamina was already incredibly high, but I honestly think now that if I didn't have my powers and you had weights on, I wouldn't be able to keep up." Lee gave the man a genuine smile and a thumbs up, followed by a wince from the pain of being thrown into a tree. "Let go get some food!" Naruto was about to agree when, Ayame spoke up for him.

"Actually, Naruto and I can't. We have to get to Ichiraku for our shifts. You two are welcome to eat their if you'd like though." Lee shook his head, sending the duo a small frown.

"I would love to, but ramen isn't the healthiest food available. You should really work on a more diverse diet to keep the fruits of your labor, Naruto." The boy shrugged it off, already rising and turning towards the edge of Hokage Rock.

"Yeah yeah," he muttered, sullen at the fact he had to work and not eat. "Let's get to work Ayame." She giggled slightly, waving at the other two before racing to catch up with Naruto. Jiraiya gave the girl another glance, his eyes narrowing slightly. Next to him, Lee spoke up and pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I too must go! I have some prior engagements I promised I would do this afternoon. I shall see you for our next training session, Jiraiya-sensei!" The teen departed after a small wave from the older man sent him off. He let out a deep breath, deciding to return home until everyone was done with their activities. After all, there was nothing else for him to do in Konoha of all places.

* * *

"Finally. We've been needing a detective on this one since yesterday." Standing in front of Iruka, an older-looking man grumbled about the wait. He was wearing the standard Konoha police officer uniform and had a small bony face with tired eyes. Next to him, Anko shook him off with a hand gesture.

"We got lost on the road to life. Who knew they had so many turns?" The officer gave her a dirty look, not used to Anko's sense of humor.

"So Officer Ogata," Iruka started, gaining the attention of the elder officer. "What exactly happened here? From the call, it seems you were all surprised." The officer snorted, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Surprised is an understatement," he began, taking them towards a shady looking alleyway, in-between two heavily graffitied brick buildings. "Here's our victim." Anko and Iruka stepped deeper in the alley to see a sheet covering something farther in, a faint dark red stain under the human-shaped sheet.

"You just left the body here?" Anko questioned, walking towards the sheet and lifting it up slightly and wincing before covering it up. "Oh boy, that's a bad."

"I wasn't kidding when I said we needed ya here yesterday." He muttered, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms." Anko turned her head from her crouched position to give the man a dirty look. Next to her, Iruka knelt down and moved the sheet, visibly grimacing like she did.

"Yeah you weren't kidding." He mumbled to his partner before examining the body more thoroughly. "Eyes aren't completely glassed over. This had to have happened recently; or at least within this morning or last night. You thinking it was a Mizuki hit?" Anko shook her head, taking the sheet from Iruka and moving it completely, so they could get a complete unobstructed view of the body.

"Not likely. Mizuki hasn't been active in these last two weeks. Besides, look there." She gestured towards the man's hand, pointing out a small tattoo on the upper-side of his wrist. "That's the mark of the Fujioka Gang. Notorious drug dealers here in Konoha, but they always backed Mizuki and paid protection money. It's possible that they didn't pay and Mizuki claimed one of them, but it doesn't seem likely." Iruka nodded, rising to walk towards the body's feet, examining the large bloody hole in his chest.

"Looks like it was done with a shotgun. Not many things can do this much damage, but I'm not seeing any shells. It's morbid, but looking through him, I don't see any marks on the concrete.

"That's the thing. It doesn't look like there was any shells. Hell, as far as I can tell no DNA or anything was left." Anko scoffed, looking towards the walls, sniffing the air slightly.

"Yeah like you could tell from just looking." He shot another look at the woman, but she didn't care to notice. "I want a sweep done of this area," she noticed him open his mouth before interrupting him. "I know it was done already, but we are going to do it this time to make sure it's done right. Go ahead and get the body moved, as well as CSI to examine and figure out the DNA situation. We are gonna try and find any evidence." The officer grumbled something else about detectives before walking off.

"Any ideas?" Iruka asked, walking up to his partner and taking a sip of his coffee. After the formation of the Mizuki Task Force, Iruka had been brandished as a full-fledged detective, now wearing a black trench coat for the cold weather.

"No shells, no witness', and no cameras. Not the most ideal of situations. At the moment, I'm thinking it's a drug deal gone bad." He nodded, looking up also to see that there were indeed no camera's around.

"Makes sense. They usually scope for areas with very minimal foot traffic and little to no camera work. This isn't exactly the best place in the city, so there isn't even cameras near the streets. It is a pretty bad case, Anko." She nodded, walking towards the trash cans near the buildings bases.

"Yeah, if you don't know where to look. He died there, but there had to have been a struggle." Pushing over some of the trashcans, she searched around before finding a nice looking watched with ripped leather. "Bingo." She slid a glove on, and grabbed the leather watch, noticing the words notched on the clockhead. Smirking, she showed it to Iruka.

"'HyugaTech'? They are a huge company, it's not like that helps us in the long run. It could be anyone from the company." Anko shrugged, bagging the watch in an evidence bag.

"If I recall correctly, these watches were only given to select employees. Reaching a quota or some crap. And there are rumors only that HyugaTech is wanting to compete with UchihaCorp regarding their weapons program. Maybe HyugaTech was testing some new weapon on an unsuspecting drug dealer last night?" Iruka nodded, taking the watch bag from here.

"It's worth a shot. Lets get this to evidence and then see if we can chat up the CEO of HyugaTech."

* * *

"I've never had ramen before Ino?" Sakura Haruno stood in front of the entrance to Ichiraku Ramen with her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, a small look of doubt on her face.

"Trust me, it's pretty dang good. I ended up going here with my dad one day after helping him close the shop. They had this really good diet ramen meal that tasted so good and with almost no calories! Like, seriously. It's the bees knees." Sakura shook her head, but gave her friend a gentle smile.

"Alright. But if it's not amazing, I'm going to sue you." Ino rolled her eyes playfully before opening the doors for Sakura. The restaurant was immediately bustling with excitement, as the multitudes of conversations all merging in the same space. It immediately put a pang of dread in Sakura's heart and her anxiety started to spike a little before a soft voice pulled her out of it.

"Hey there! Is it just going to be two today?" The brunette at the hostess counter asked with a smile. Sakura was thankful for Ino voicing their confirmation and talking for her. The hostess led them towards a booth and sat them down, explaining that their server will be with them shortly.

"It's been getting busier everyday here. I bet you it has to do with Tempest." Sakura gave the girl a confused look, letting her continue. "Apparently, a gang was targeting people for protection money and Tempest first arrived to save Ichiraku, remember? That was that event with Naruto that happened a month back. Anyway, that gang hasn't been showing up and Tempest has been stopping lots of criminals lately. Maybe a lot of people associate Ichiraku with Tempest?" Sakura shrugged, thinking about it. It did seem like a connection a lot of people would make.

"I guess. Maybe people want to see what Tempest saved. If it's as good as you say, maybe Tempest drew them in and the food made them stay." Ino nodded, a sly smile on her face.

"Thanks for choosing Ichiraku, anything to drink today- Oh! Hey guys." Ino and Sakura both looked up towards their server, shock on their face at seeing the blonde.

"Naruto? I didn't know you worked here! I guess I should have figured since you love ramen!" Ino chuckled slightly, making Naruto blush. Across the table, Sakura was eyeing Naruto intently. It had been 2 weeks since her discharge from the hospital, but she had only gotten back to school a week ago. Even so, she was avoiding most of the men in her class and all of them seemed to take it to heart but two of them; Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.

"How are you Naruto?" She asked gently, giving him a small smile. He tried to hold back his blush, but failed to do so as he answered.

"I-I'm good… How have you been, Sakura?" He stammered out, a sense of unease inside of him. This was still his crush, and he felt very nervous around her. Luckily for Sakura, she didn't feel her unease around Naruto, maybe because he felt visibly more uncomfortable than she ever did.

"I'm good. I'd like to get a water to start." For a moment, he stood there like a deer in headlights before remembering he was supposed to be taking orders for the girls. This WAS his job after all.

"Oh! Right! Right," he chuckled nervously before scribbling down a water for his crush. "And for you?" He gestured to Ino, who was trying hard not to laugh at her classmate.

"Also a water. And I want to get the diet ramen, medium sized. Sakura's never been here before. Any recommendations for the lady?" She looked at Sakura with a devious smirk, making the pinkette scowl at her friend, completely aware of her intentions of making Naruto nervous.

"Oh uh… Well the miso ramen is a definite favorite of mine. We just got a new kobe beef ramen that's really tasty, but it's a little pricey. Are you okay with beef or were you more of a chicken person?" The two continued to talk, Naruto getting more comfortable as he discussed his favorite food with her. Eventually, she agreed to get the pork flavored ramen and Naruto left with their menu's. As he walked away, Ino felt her eyes drift downwards and snickered.

"Maybe it's just me, but did you ever notice Naruto's looking like a snack lately?" Sakura turned to face her friend, a shocked expression on her face (as well as a faint blush)

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" She laughed, a little louder, now facing her friend and resting her head on her hands.

"You heard me. Maybe it was because we always looked over him as a delinquent. You also heard when he was talking to Ms. Kato that one time. He's been going to the gym after school. Maybe he's going to be one of those hot bad boys from a manga. You know what I'm saying?" She wiggled her eyebrows, making the girl next to her roll her eyes. She looked to her side to see Naruto conversing with the nearby hostess, who seemed to be smiling and giggling, while Naruto looked annoyed. She gave a small smile. She did have to admit: Naruto was looking pretty good.

* * *

"So that's the girl you dig huh?" Ayame was giving him a small eyebrow wiggle, making the blonde frown.

"Yeah yeah that's her, don't look!" She scoffed as she stopped trying to peer over his shoulder and look at the girls.

"They already saw me as the hostess. Like it's going to matter bud. But she's cute. So is her blond friend. Plus it looked like she was staring at your ass earlier. You should try the blondie if pinky doesn't work out." He let out a snort, straightning his back and crossing his arms.

"Me and Ino? Ha, yeah right!" He groaned slightly, refocusing back on his busy area. "I have to go take care of all this tables, so I guess I'll be back." As he walked away, Ayames smile slowly faded into a frown as she looked down at the palm of her hand. For a moment, she thought she could see the faintest flicker in it.

* * *

"Gross. So pretentious, I swear." Anko muttered, mostly to herself at seeing the high arches towards the Hyuga Mansion. Anko and Iruka had just pulled up to the prestigious Hyuga Mansion, hoping to speak to the patriarch about the latest case in their hands.

"I mean, they are a company that has profits in the multi-millions. It's not like they wouldn't have a huge home." She shrugged with a small eye roll, sipping her coffee. Walking towards the small intercom, Iruka pressed the button, waiting for the other's response.

"Might I ask your business?" A woman's voice spoke out, a softness in it.

"Hello, I'm Iruka Umino and this is my partner Anko Mitarashi. We are here with the Konoha City Police Department. I was just hoping we could talk to Hiashi Hyuga for a few minutes. We received word from his secretary that he would be out of the office and would be home today." There was silence over the line for a few minutes. After waiting, Anko chuckled, gaining Iruka's attention.

"She's ghosting you." As Iruka frowned at his partner, the gates buzzed and the woman's voice spoke again.

"A few minutes. Park near the main entrance please." There was a distinct click, ending the chat. Anko looked a little smug, hoping the passenger door.

"They don't sound happy." Pulling up to the mansion, they noticed a woman in a suit with bright red hair leaning against the main door to the Hyuga's home. Her arms were crossed and her bright green eyes looked slightly annoyed.

"Let's go. Current door lady ain't here, so you got me for right now." Her voice was smooth, easy to listen to, but it held a harsh tone in it. Walking towards her, Anko gave her a small look.

"Do I know you?" The girl shook her head, leading them into the building, but Anko was skeptical. "You look so familiar." She shot a quick glance behind her, giving Anko a side-eye.

"I have red hair and green eyes. You'd remember meeting me. Anyway, here's the main living quarters. The guy himself will be here soon."

"And he is." From one of the large living quarters halls, Hisashi Hyuga walked out, donning a pink kimono. "Runa, you are dismissed." Anko frowned slightly at the name, shooting another look at the redhead, who bowed and made her departure. With it just the three of them, Hisashi turned towards the detectives in his home. "Now what do I owe this great pleasure to?"

"We just had a few questions is all. You gave out select watches every year at the HyugaTech Gala every year, is this correct?" Hisashi frowned at Iruka's questioning but nodded as he walked towards the couch opposite them to sit down.

"That is information you could find by simply searching it on the internet, but yes. Every year we hold a gala and I have the department heads send me an employee from each of their departments that they have felt down an exceptional job. We give them a small raise and a HyugaTech watch. May I ask why?" Anko pulled out an evidence bag and placed it on the coffee table in-between the two parties.

"This was recovered at a crime scene this morning. Figured we could get a little insight on this." Hisashi picked up the bag to inspect it, a sigh escaping his mouth.

"I see. Might I ask what the crime was?" Anko frowned slightly, something that wasn't missed by Hisashi, but Iruka spoke up for them.

"A homicide. A particularly bizarre one, in fact." They waited a moment, but Hisashi quickly learnt that was all Iruka was going to say on the matter and placed the watch back down on the table.

"I see. Well, you have my full support on this matter. I wouldn't want my company's name tarnished, so I hope we can resolve this quickly and quietly. This watch is from the 2008 HyugaTech Gala. We purposely use different leather every year, as well as a faint distinct mark in the clockhead's metals. Most would overlook it, but I helped manufacture them." Iruka nodded, marking down the notes.

"We've heard rumors that HyugaTech is looking to expand on the weapons front. Trying to beat out UchihaCorp, you know?" Hisashi frowned, looking at the questioning woman.

"I've heard the rumors too. They are completely false also. UchihaCorp is making advancements towards new weaponry for our military, but HyugaTech has no intentions of joining the arms race. I," he clarified, "have no interest in the arms race." Anko nodded slightly, giving the man a small look. "Is there anything else I could help with or are we done here?" To answer, Iruka stood up from his seat, followed by Anko.

"We got everything we need. I appreciate your time, Mr. Hyuga." Iruka bowed slightly, while Anko gave a curt nod. He smiled and gestured forward.

"Of course. Let me show you the door." Back at their car, the two detectives shared a look.

"So we should check out the 2008 gala winners huh? How many departments does HyugaTech have?" Iruka asked, now in the car with Anko who shrugged. "At least 100? Well, we got some work to do." As they started to drive off, neither noticed the pair of pale eyes watching them.

* * *

"Calm down. All they know is someone was killed, that's about it." Runa muttered, watching the fuming CEO pace across the living quarters.

"Yes and that's all I know as well, Runa. If someone is killing people and leaving behind Hyuga stuff, I would like to know about it." He let out a breath, looking back at Runa and stopping the pace. "They said it was a bizarre case and then asked about HyugaTech weaponry. You don't think…?" He started, staring at the girl for a few seconds. She let out a breath, rising from her leaned position in the doorway.

"I can find out. I have some contacts in the police that can give me the scoop on what happened. I'm not too fond of doing anything that's even related to Anko Mitarashi, but I can find out. But Hisashi," she gave him a look, one that he read easily. "If it is what I think it is, you know exactly what happened. Hinata and Hanabi haven't developed it yet, and your wife is gone. It only leaves Hizashi." The Hyuga CEO frowned, thinking about his last living family; his brother and his nephew, Neji Hyuga.

"I'm hoping it's not like that. Please find out for me Runa?" The redhead nodded, walking out of the room. Hisashi sighed once more, pacing around the room again. Luckily for her, neither of them noticed Hinata watching and eavesdropping from the corner.

* * *

"Well, that's that." Anko muttered to herself, placing a folder to the ground. Next to her, Iruka was sitting at a bench with a hotdog in hand. After leaving Hyuga Mansion, the duo got the reports from the HyugaTech building and spent the rest of their day examining the 2008 gala winners. Now at the end of their day and almost out of contacts, the two were at a loss.

"Maybe it wasn't 2008? Or some mugger stole it awhile back?" Anko shook her head, sitting next to her partner at the bench.

"No one's reported it stolen, at least from this bunch. If it's from a different year, that could take literal months and this case could go cold by then." Anko muttered, placing her head in her hands. "This is so stupid." After a few seconds of silence, she rose her head, the bags now showing under her eyes. "I am now craving a hotdog too." She muttered, rising up and walking towards the hotdog stand that was behind Iruka. Unlucky for her, the line just started to get big at the now populated hotdog stand. While she grumbled to herself, she felt something press against her back. She started to turn her head, but stopped, eyes widened and only able to see the side of a hood behind her as a man's voice spoke up.

"Don't turn around or I blow the biggest hole imaginable in your body." She froze, a grimace on her face. She was able to see Iruka, but his back was to her. With all the people in front of her, she couldn't quickly move out of the way without them being attacked. "Just act natural and wait in line for your food." He spoke calmly. "So enjoy HyugaTech?"

"Have you been watching us? You shouldn't have left the watch behind honestly." He snorted, the thought amusing to him.

"Red herring. I had to get you on the Hyuga trail. Glad you were able to find the watch. Your reputation is benefitting to you, Mitarashi." She shrugged slightly, careful not to make too rapid of a movement.

"So what? We cross checked everyone and no one was missing their watch. Unless it wasn't just the 2008 gala." She shot a small side eye, not able to see the man, but trying desperately too.

"You think they were only given to the employees? Always remember that Hisashi is a huge family man. Don't forget that Anko." Now at the front of the line, the woman asked Anko for her order and the pressure left Anko's back, making her turn around quickly, but the man was gone. With a frown, she walked out of the line towards Iruka.

"What, no dog?" She glared down at him, making him realize it was serious.

"We have to get to the station."

* * *

"This is ridiculous! My daughters don't even keep the watches we had!" Hisashi began to shout, having to be restrained by other officers.

"Father, it's okay. This will help them get a sense of ease and help them catch the actual culprit." His daughter, Hinata Hyuga spoke reassuringly. He was breathing heavily as his daughter smiled at him, her hands behind her back and cuffed, Anko and Iruka on both sides of her.

"We just have questions to ask, Mr. Hyuga. Once we know everything is okay, you will be able to see your daughter." Anko gave Iruka a skeptical look. Once they had gotten to the station, they got a DNA test of the watch, as well as a warrant for the Hyuga Mansion. Once there, they easily noticed the missing watch from Hinata's collection. That combined with the call of Hinata's DNA on the watch pretty much solidified her as the attacker.

"We will let you know what is happening later, Hisashi. For now, we have to question your daughter." Anko yanked the girl forward, making her yelp slightly. Hisashi watched in horror, knowing there was nothing he could do at the moment.

* * *

"Oh come on, I'm just playing!" Kiba Inuzuka shouted with a laugh as he was pushed out of the bar. He chuckled, rubbing his nose slightly. "Thought this ID would work. Whatever." The boy laughed, taking a glance at his fake ID. Pocketing it, he started to walk down the alley, hands on his head. Before he could leave the alley, a man walked into his view, the shadow's blocking his face.

"Hello." He spoke, watching Kiba intently. The boy chose to ignore the man, knowing full well to not acknowledge a random man at 2 am. As he tried to walk past him, the man took a step to the left, stopping Kiba. "I was speaking to you." Kiba growled, backing up slightly and brandishing a pocket knife.

"Listen pal, you need to get out of my way."

"Kiba, aren't you tired of never getting your way?" Kiba froze slightly, surprised at the fact the man knew his name. "The fact that everyone always says you aren't good enough. It's hard I bet."

"How do you know that? Who the hell are you?" Kiba shouted, anger rising in his mind. The man stepped forward, Kiba still unable to make out his face.

"A friend. A friend who understands. Tempest gets all the praise and everyone compares you to him. How can someone normal compare to someone super?" Kiba was starting to lower his knife.

"And what about it? Some girls say I'm ever gonna be like him? What about it? I don't give a damn!" He spat out, gritting his teeth at the man.

"What if I could give you abilities? Ones that could make you rival him? Ones that could make you… super?" Kiba scoffed, raising his knife again.

"Yeah, okay! Some random guy decides to just hand out super powers in a dark alley? Where's the van at and your ensemble is complete." Instead of answering, the man took a step forward, slowly levitating forward.

"What the… hell?" Kiba stuttered out falling backwards, his knife clattering to the floor.

"Don't deny someone when they give you a gift, boy. I can give you powers beyond your wildest dreams." He slowly smirked. "All I ask is for assistance later on in your life. Nothing wild. Just some help from your new powers." Kiba looked on, debating it in his head, but it was only for a few seconds.

"Okay, fine!" He rose up, looking up at the floating man with a grin. "Make me super then!" The man gave him a smile and rose his hand, slowly levitating towards the boy with an open palm.

* * *

"So you think so?" Ayame whispered into the phone, sitting on the kitchen counter of her house.

"I do." A gruff voice spoke on the other end. "From training, I can feel the same aura that Naruto has. I'm pretty certain you are also a mutant Ayame. Though I'm not sure what ability you possess." Ayame nodded with Jiraiya's words, listening intently.

"I thought so. I could feel something in me lately. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but I knew I felt something. I guess we will find out as we train more? Thanks Jiraiya… And sorry for calling so late." From his small condo, Jiraiya looked at the clock, which displayed '3:21 AM.'

"It's no bother. I don't get much sleep these days anyhow. Get some sleep Ayame. We will see you at training tomorrow." She smiled and rose from the counter.

"Yeah you too sensei!" She giggled slightly and hung up the phone, placing it on the counter. She looked down at her palm, the same trickling spark there.

"A mutant, huh?" She felt pride at the word, even though most used it derogatory. But she wasn't able to think much about it before she felt pressure against her back, the feeling of cold steel on her.

"What a coincidence. I also am a mutant. Let's be friends?" She turned her head slowly, her body locking up. Behind her, a man with a mask and crazed eyes gave her a sadistic eye smile, pressing the gun more into her back and grabbing her right arm.

"Let's go Ayame Ichiraku. We got an Uber to catch."

* * *

 **There's episode 8. Things are getting heated now and we have multiple arcs going on. What will happen? Find out next time…. Whenever the hell that is. I work 65 hours a week. I'll work on it when it's slow at the office. We will see.**

 **R &R friends. I love to read them.**


	9. Episode 9: Friends

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **I'm sure you were all able to figure out the cameo from the last chapter. We all know who that is.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 9: Friends…**

* * *

"Where is that damn girl?" Jiraiya muttered, checking his watch for the 5th time in the last hour. Next to him, Naruto shrugged before collapsing to the ground in a sweaty mess.

"No idea. Maybe she slept in? Her phones off so she probably just forgot to charge it or something." Jiraiya wasn't so sure, but shrugged it off.

"Whatever. Are you ready to increase weights guys?

"Yes!""No!" The duo spoke in unison, Naruto groaning while Lee's eyes were beaming. Jiraiya chuckled slightly at the sight, already rolling out his sealing paper.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know anything." Iruka sighed, leaning back in his chair at Hinata's answer. "I did have the watch. I always like to keep father's memento's, but I don't recall ever losing the watch. It's usually locked up.

"Look, kid. All we know is that someone was killed and your watch with your DNA was at the scene. There is probably footage of you receiving the watch from your dad 4 years ago, but those are the facts. We can't help you, if we only get 'I don't know.'" Anko stated, her hands covering her face in exasperation. Hinata sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her anxiety was spiking severely, but she was trying hard to hold it in.

"I'm sorry detectives, but I really don't know anything. Our house is very secure, so I can't see someone breaking in, but I wasn't there."

"So you have an alibi?" Iruka looked hopeful, but it dropped when Hinata gave him a frown.

"I don't. I was in my room, studying with music playing. I can't really have anyone confirm that." Iruka sighed, while Anko rose from her seat.

"I need a drink." She mumbled and walked out, heading towards the coffee in the kitchen. Walking past, she couldn't help but notice a familiar streak of bright red hair. "Well, look who it is."

Runa turned around, glaring daggers at the detective in front of her. Behind Runa, a familiar raven-haired man looked forward, a smile on his face.

"Heya Anko. You've met Runa already?" Shisui asked, looking between the two. Anko bit her lip, a small smirk on her face as she crossed her arms.

"I'll say I do. She's the butler to the girl in Room D." Shisui raised an eyebrow, while Runa scoffed, crossing her arms and wearing her usual suited attire.

"Not a butler. I'm here to speak with her actually." Runa attempted to bypass the girl, but the taller woman stepped into her way.

"Sorry, but no. Actually not sorry. She is a suspect in a homicide case and the only person she will be speaking to is her legal counsel." Runa scrunched up her nose before pulling out a card from her back pocket and handing it to Anko.

"Runa Akahime, legal counsel and lawyer for the Hyuga family. Nice to meet you." With that, she pushed past Anko, knocking into her shoulder as she passed. Shisui snickered slightly, walking towards Anko and taking the card Runa left on top of her crossed arms.

"I could have told you she was a lawyer, if you wanted."

"Buzz off." Shisui chuckled again and walked off.

Inside the interrogation room, the door opened, and Runa walked in with a scowl.

"Hinata's lawyer is here. Be gone police." Iruka gave the girl a small look, but she frowned at him. "I was dealing with your partner. I was still in bitch mode, sorry." His look turned to a small smile and he rose from his seat.

"Understandable. I'll be back shortly." With that, he walked past the woman and shut the door behind him.

"Runa, what are you doing? You're not our lawyer?" Hinata asked with a head tilt, but Runa scoffed and sat down in the chair.

"I am a lawyer though, and we can just say Hiashi hired me. Right now, I'm more like a P.I. though. Trying to figure out whats going on." Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

"So you and father believe me? That's good to hear." Runa shot a raspberry at the girl, a smile on her face.

"You didn't think we would? Girl, I know you aren't killing anyone. Listen. Stay safe in here and deny everything. Let Papa Runa figure everything out." Hinata rolled her eyes at her driver's antics. She knew she was at least in safe hands now.

* * *

"It's so hot, but it's so good!" Sakura mumbled, trying to slurp her noodles as neatly as she could, without burning her tongue off.

"Hey, I told you." Next to her, Ino gave the girl a small smirk, gracefully slurping her diet ramen. It had only been a day since Sakura had been here last, but she was already addicted and wanted to try all the ramen on the menu. "A little high in calories, but I bet that one is pretty good." Sakura rolled her eyes, giving the blonde a smile as she ate.

"Who cares. It's so dang good. I never would have guessed I would have loved ramen so much. I'm just glad it's not as busy today as it was yesterday." She stated in between slurps. Thanks to Ino's position, the blonde looked over to the door to see Naruto walk in and quickly slapped the table lightly.

"Sakura, look look! Naruto walked in!" Sakura gave her a look before turning around and widening her eyes.

* * *

He was worried about Ayame, so the blond boy neglected to change his attire and walked into Ichiraku Ramen with his workout gear on. Like normal, he was wearing his joggers and a tank top shirt, only this time he had a towel over his neck and had sweat all down his body. Before he could even think, he heard a familiar voice from across the restaurant.

"Naruto! Come here!" He looked to his left to see Sakura and Ino, sitting in the booth they sat at yesterday. Normally, he'd feel awkward at seeing his crush in his current state, but he was too worried about Ayame.

"Hey guys. You remember that hostess? I was wondering if you had seen her today? I was trying to find her earlier and her phone's not working." Ino's face dropped slightly, while Sakura was looking down at Naruto's arms.

"Nah, we had a different hostess today. Is she your girlfriend or something?" His blush finally crept onto his face and he shook his head.

"No! Just good friends. Alright, I'm gonna go ask the owner. See you guys at school!" He waved them off before heading towards the kitchen. Ino turned to her friend, a wicked smirk on her face.

"You saw those muscles right? Naruto been working oooout!" She emphasized the 'o', taking a small bite. "Mama like." Sakura gagged slightly on her noodles, a faint blush on her own face.

* * *

"I'll ask again. Tempest. Who is he?" Mizuki spoke calmly, kneeling down to look at the girl in front of him. She was currently tied up in a wooden chair, still in pajamas and her hair falling down.

"How in the hell am I supposed to know?" She spat out, glaring at the man. He sighed, rising up from his position.

"He saved you and your father. You even mentioned you were a mutant! You two are connected and I KNOW you know his identity. So once more, with gusto this time." He gave a smile to her, but she looked up and spat in his face, making him growl. Before she could revel in her joy, a quick slap smacked her in the face, bruising her immediately.

"Boss, whoa! She's just a girl." Mizuki turned to look at his men, glaring at one who was holding up his hands in defense. "I-I-I mean…" he began, but Mizuki silence him with his hand.

"No no, you're right. What's your name again?" The man gulped, but stood forward.

"Y-Yujiro." He stated softly. Mizuki gestured him forward and he walked over to stand next to the man.

"Listen Yujiro. Try and get the girl to talk. Gently." He nodded, sweat starting to form at his forehead. He stepped forward and knelt down in front of Ayame.

"Sorry. We don't want to hurt you really. We just want to know about Tempest. Can you tell us what you know?" She gave the man a dirty look, but it was only for a second, when she looked up to see Mizuki above the man, a handgun in his hand.

"Wait, no!" She started to shout, but it was muffled by the loud bang of the gunshot, followed by the slump of Yujiro's body. Her eyes widened in shock and she started to breathe heavily, desperately trying to calm herself down. Mizuki knelt down again, a few centimeters away from her face.

"He was expendable… So are you if I get no information. Now you can understand," he face twisted into a sadistic smirk, his breath leaving tingles on her face. "that I'm not fucking around." He rose up, a smile still etched on his face. "You got a little blood on your face. Might want to clean that up. I'll be back in about 15 minutes. Maybe you'll talk then." He gestured to his men, telling them to leave the room. Ayame continued to breath in heavily, now that she was alone and just staring at the dead body in front of her.

* * *

"Teuchi hasn't seen her either." Naruto was sitting on the couch at Jiraiya's condo, his arms crossed and in a thinking position. Near him, Jiraiya was in the kitchen, while Lee was near the island of the kitchen.

"I'm sure Ayame is fine, Naruto. Maybe she's just dealing with some stuff." Lee started, resting his hand on his arm.

"I don't know man. She's usually really good about talking. It just is a bunch of red flags to me. I'm just really worried man." As he finished his sentence, his phone started to ring. He looked at it, a smile on his face. "It's Ayame! Finally!" He answered the phone, ready to speak when Ayame's voice shouted at him.

"Tempest, shut up!" A muffled scream was heard, and Naruto's eyes widened, but he quickly placed his phone on speaker, making sure the two others could hear the phone.

"I guess you already know from her voice." Everyone in the room froze, all of them well aware of Mizuki's voice. "She was being incredibly difficult until I showed her I was willing to go to extreme measures." He laughed slightly. "I told you I'd get you Tempest."

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto spat out, making the man laugh harder.

"Why go after the hero when you can just slaughter their friends? Come to the 143rd Warehouse on the Midori Docks in one hour. Alone or the girl gets a bullet in her head." There was a click and the phone call ended. The three stood in silence for a few moments before Naruto quickly started heading for the door.

"Naruto, you aren't serious? You can't go there now!" Lee tried to stop Naruto, who quickly pushed him off.

"He's gonna kill her and it's all my fault! I have to stop him."

"Go and you'll both get a bullet in the head, boy." Jiraiya spoke solemnly, his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. "We need to think this through. You just go in and you both are going to die." With a huff, Naruto threw his coat down and glared at the elder man.

"So I just let her die? I can't do that! I will gladly die if it means she can live! She's my friend and I'm not going to let any of my friends die, got it?" Jiraiya and Naruto glared down at each other in silence. "I'm going now." Jiraiya said nothing, and Naruto took it as a sign and walked towards the door, slamming it shut.

"We are just letting him go? He's going to die!" Jiraiya sighed and grabbed his phone, ignoring Lee's yelling.

"Get something to cover your face. We need to protect your identity. I have a call to make."

* * *

"Iruka! We gotta go!" Anko burst into the room, startling both Iruka, Runa and Hinata. "I have Shisui covering Hinata for now. We got a lead on Mizuki. Let's go now!" Understanding the severity, Iruka said a small apology to Hinata and rushed to the door, matching Anko's speed down the hall.

"What's going on? We get a visual on him?" She shook her head, pushing the doors to the outside open, where several other police cars were starting, the sirens already ringing.

"Anonymous call. Someone who claimed to work with Tempest. Asked for me specifically. Gave us the exact address. He has a hostage at the Midori Docks. Warehouse 143rd. We need to be quiet when we get closer, but we need to get there as fast as we can." Iruka nodded, unlocking the car and getting in the driver seat while she got in the passenger.

"Let's get this son of a bitch Anko."

* * *

"Naruto, you're going to need to be careful going in. Mizuki no doubt plans to kill you today. If we do this smart, we can get you both out, okay?" Naruto remained silent on the other end of the phone, zooming through the sky in his Tempest outfit. "He's not as fast as you, but Lee is on the way also."

"What? No! I don't want Lee in this situation either!" Before he could continue to voice his displeasure, Lee's voice chimed in the chat.

"I am also your friend Naruto and we are doing this together. I can stay hidden and try and get to Ayame. You need to trust me more." Naruto grumbled, shooting another daitoppa and sending him flying forward.

"It's not that! I trust you. I just don't want you to get hurt!" Lee laughed over the headset, making the blonde frown.

"I'm a big boy Naruto. I can take care of myself. Just wait until I can get there. Play dumb."

"Which shouldn't be too hard for you." Jiraiya remarked, snickering a little. If it wasn't for his bad mood, Naruto would have acknowledged him more, but instead brushed it off.

"I'm about 10 minutes out from the Midori Docks. Just let me know when you're here Lee. Just don't know how loud you can without them hearing you over the headset, so be careful."

There was radio silence after that, all three of them on their own missions; Naruto and Lee heading towards Ayame, with Jiraiya heading towards a spot where he can support them. After a few minutes, Naruto made first contact, slamming down towards the entrance of warehouse 143rd. Near the front, two thug looking men stood, a handgun in each of their hands.

"Tempest. Boss has been waiting for you." Naruto glared at one of the men, a burly looking Asian man, while the other was a stocky black man.

"Eat me," he spat, pushing past them. The stockier one chuckled and looked at his partner.

"Fiesty. Just like the girl." He stopped in his tracks, his hand already at the door. He stepped backwards, glaring at both of the men.

"What was that?" He chuckled, tilting his head to look at the boy in front of him.

"You heard me brat. Fiesty like the stupid little girl boss was beating the hell out of." He gave a wicked smile to the hero, him and his buddy laughing as Tempest took a long breath.

* * *

"Tempest should be here soon." Mizuki remarked, sitting on top of a lone desk in the empty warehouse. Besides that, a bruised Ayame sat in the chair next to him, tied up with her head down. In the shadows of the warehouse, plenty of Mizuki's men stood, assault rifles at the ready. "Or maybe he doesn't care about you?" He looked down at the girl, who refused to move, but wore a look of pure hatred on her face. As if on cue, the door to the warehouse burst open, a huge gust of wind pushing in, as well as two of Mizuki's men, who went flying at least 10 meters and smacked into the ground forcefully.

"Sorry. They pissed me off." Tempest walked in after the bodies, the wind dying around him. Mizuki chuckled, rising from his seat.

"I was wrong, he does care!" He looked towards the men behind him and scoffed. "I don't care about them anyway. Cannon fodder. We all know we are the main event! The two mutants duking it out!" He chuckled, stepping sideways so he was next to Ayame, but facing forward to look at Tempest.

"Now here are the rules of Mizuki v. Tempest Round 2: You attack, she gets a bullet in her brain. And that's it? Understand?" For emphasis, he pulled a handgun out, placing it against the side of Ayame's head, making her start to shake again. His face went from it's sadistic playfulness to a truly hateful one. "Tell me you understand?" Tempest simply glared at the man, his fist clenched in anger. How dare he? He… He wanted to kill this man more than ever. With a smile, Mizuki lifted the gun from the girls temple and laughed, placing it on the desk.

"Good! Now come! Step forward! Also, can all my men come and give us a nice audience." Tempest looked around as a group of men slowly moved from the shadows, surrounding them both as they walked forward. With a smirk, Mizuki started to order them. "You!" He pointed to a random guard. "Keep a gun on this broad so Mr. Hero doesn't try anything funny." He nodded, walking towards them and placed himself behind Ayame, his assault rifle aimed at her.

"You heard the man Tempest! You try anything and you're gonna have to clean up this girl's remains!" He shouted in a generic thug voice, to which Tempest ignored. With all the thugs now surrounding both Naruto and Mizuki, they began to cheer as Mizuki cracked his neck.

"Round 2 begin! Also no dodging! Don't think Ayame can dodge bullets, huh?" With that, he stepped forward and swung, connecting with Naruto's face and sending him to the ground. "Come on! Get up!" With a growl, the blonde rose up, blood already starting to pool at his broken nose, but oddly enough, he didn't feel it.

 _Are we really going to take this? We are powerful! We can kill him,_ Naruto spoke in his mind, but he had to shake his head mentally. Ayame is at risk. If he does anything without making sure she was safe, he would have effectively sealed her fate. Before he could dwell more on it, another swing from Mizuki left a huge crack in the area, and caused Tempest to go flying into the ground of men. With a shout, they pushed him back towards Mizuki, who did jumped and did a superman punch, making the blonde smack into the ground hard.

"Woo! Gotta say, we are having a great time, right Tempest?" He chuckled and sent a quick kick to the man's side, laughing as the blonde groaned at being flipped from such a powerful kick.

 _KILL HIM! NO!_ Naruto felt like his own mind was fighting, desperately trying to hold back the ever-increasing blood lust that was developing in him. He wanted to hurt Mizuki… Bad. He slowly rose from the ground, struggling as he picked himself to all fours when his headset sparked on in a whisper.

"I'm inside Tempest. I can see Ayame. Keep them around you and I will get the man that's on Ayame." He was barely able to hear the hushed voice of Lee in his headset over the boisterous laughter of Mizuki and his men.

"You're-" the blonde began, stuttering as he rose up to his two feet, "are a bastard, you know that?" He looked up from the ground, his eyes almost seeming to flicker red as he glared at the silver-haired crime boss. With a narrow of his eyes, Mizuki stepped forward, looking to deliver a devastating right cross to the man's face. At the last second, Naruto dodged back, narrowly avoiding the hit. With wide eyes, Mizuki stepped back, horror on his face for a second.

"Did you forget the rules brat? You break them one more time and I'm gonna let them unload all over this girl." Mizuki hissed out, stepping towards the hero again.

"Coward!" He shouted, stepping back towards the men in the circle. They all watched intently, wondering what the hero would do. Thankfully, with all the attention on him, no one noticed Lee sneak behind the man and quietly chock him into unconsciousness. Using the knife the man had on him, he slowly started to cut the rope around her. She looked behind her, only able to see blue spandex, as she wasn't able to bend her head towards his face.

"Ayame, we are here to get you out of here." His barely audible voice made her eyes widen, recognizing Lee's voice immediately. From the circle, Mizuki went to punch Naruto again, but he dodged once more, making the man shout in anger.

"That's it! Her blood is on your hands! Kill her!" He shouted and turned to point at the guard, his eyes widened as he saw the ropes holding Ayame fall at that instant, the girl smirking at him while a man in a full body blue spandex suit, as well as a face mask like Tempests and a small red headband holding up black hair, with a pair of round sunglasses stood behind her. Before he could react and activate his powers, Tempest charged forward, making sure to power up his fist with wind. As he turned, his face was met with his fist, sending the crime boss flying forward. With everyone still in shock, Naruto quickly activated his wind and rushed forward, going over to meet the duo near the middle of the warehouse. Landing next to Ayame, the three stood, all of them overlooking the small sea of men. Interrupting from the moment, Naruto let out a small chuckle glancing at Lee.

"Nice suit." He stifled his snicker terrible, wheezing out small laughs. Next to him, Ayame giggled slightly, looking at Lee.

"Yeah, I didn't want to say anything, but he's so right." The duo continued to chortle, making Lee give them a dirty look, which was hidden by his terrible ensemble. Before he could retort, one of the men charged towards the three, a knife in hand. Quickly, Lee grabbed the mans arm, leading the knife downwards and hitting him in the face with an open palm, effectively dislocating the man's shoulder and sending him sprawling to the floor.

"You will all pay for your crimes today, for now the Blue Beast of Konoha is here!" Lee did a small pose, which only looked like him flexing to everyone. With a frown, the men all exchanged looks while Naruto shook his head.

"Let's just do this, Blue Beast." Before he could answer, he kicked off the ground with a wind burst, sending a flying knee into one mans chin, knocking him out instantly. Realizing it was a battle now, the other men finally regained their composure. While Naruto was still in the air after kicking one, another charged forward, attempting to strike him with his back turned, but Lee zoomed forward catching the mans fist and holding it. Using it as a leverage point, he jumped in a somersault fashion, kicking him in the face. From the floor, Mizuki groaned and watched in anger, clutching his bloody chin. Deciding he needed to come another time, the man used the chaos to quietly sneak towards the back of the warehouse.

"It's nice to fight alongside you!" Tempest remarked, slamming his fist into a man's face, while Blue Beast nodded, elbowing someone in the chin from below.

"I agree! I've been wanting to do this for some time." The duo shared a moment, finding peace in the hectic fight the were in when the sound of a rifle cocking was heard. Unfortunately, they weren't able to keep all the men at bay, as a few of them made their way back to the rifles that were on the floor. The duo looked in horror amidst the unconscious bodies while all the guns were aimed at them. Quickly, Ayame slid in front of the two, her open palm extended, a smirk on her face.

"Don't worry, I got this!" The two gave her very obvious 'what-are-you-doing' look, while a small spark shoot from her palm, but nothing else happened. Everyone was silent, watching the girl in her pose. After a few seconds, she comedically looked at her palm, shouting. "Work damn you!"

"What are you doing?" Tempest shouted, making the girl growl and glare at him, shaking her open palm at him.

"I have powers too! It was a spark so I thought I could shot some nice electricity, but I GUESS NOT!" Tempest growled, placing his hands at his hips.

"You really wanted to take that gamble now? At this moment in time?" She pouted at his shouts, crossing her arms in annoyance. Near them, Blue Beast groaned, holding his head in his hands in a face palm.

"Are you both really fighting about this now? Time and place you two." Tempest and Ayame both turned towards Blue Beast, their new target. From afar, the men watched in fascination. One leaned towards another, not taking their eyes off them.

"Should… Should we shoot them?" He wondered aloud, to which the other responded with a shrug.

"I mean, we should… But it doesn't feel right." After a few seconds of pondering, he shook his head and cocked his rifle as well. "Men! Open fire!" The trio stopped bickering just in time for the bullets to start flying. Time slowed down as Tempest pushed past Ayame, a wall of wind already generating, Tempest hoping it would be strong enough to repel bullets. At the same moment, Ayame's hand touched Tempest back as he pushed by, a spark generating on him. As the wall generating, the wind was much more fierce; faster and stronger than his normal wind was able to easily repel the bullets. At that same time, another gust blew towards the men, only this one above and from the rafter, knocking all the guns from their hands.

"Now!" They all looked up to see a man wearing a pair of matching light green kimono shirt and pants, with a mesh armor under, showing near his legs and arms, the same color green as guards on his hands and a red haori, with two yellow circles on each side. Besides that, he was wearing traditional Japanese wooden sandals and a demon looking Kabuki mask, covering up his face, but not the long flowing white hair behind him.

Blue Beast realized quickly what he meant, and he grabbed Ayame, rushing towards the warehouse door. As soon as her hand left his back, the wind started to die down, still strong, but no where as near as it was. Raising another palm, he shot out a daitoppa past Blue Beast, sending the warehouse's door flying off the hinges this time, rather than just forcing them open. He looked up to see Jiraiya give him a thumbs up before escaping through a hatch near the top. Rushing out to join, Blue Beast and Ayame, he was stopping in his tracks by the handgun of Anko and Iruka.

"What happened? Where's Mizuki?" She shouted, looking past the three. Tempest bit his tongue, realizing now he lost track of the man.

"He might still be in there, but I didn't see him. Lot of his men in there though." He turned to Blue Beast, who gently placed Ayame down, who nodded thankfully. "Make sure you take care of Ayame Ichiraku. She's a priority target now for Mizuki, so make sure she has protection. This is also my colleague, Blue Beast. We need to get out of here though." Iruka scoffed, his gun still on them.

"What makes you think we are just going-"

"Catch you later Tempest." Iruka looked back at his partner, incredulous that she would just let the vigilantes go. He turned back towards them, only for them to be gone already. He grumbled and aimed his gun towards the warehouse, just as the other cop cars started to pull up.

"I can't believe you just let him go." She smirked at him, walking past him with her gun aimed.

"You act like you would have actually arrested him. You're such a fan boy of him." He blushed slightly, not wanting to admit that her assessment was correct. "Come on. Let's get these dirtbags."

* * *

"Ugh, I'm feeling it now." Jiraiya and Lee watching as Naruto slumped to the ground of the condo, his hood off and his face mask lowered, dry blood etched all over his face. Compared to him, Jiraiya had no marks on him, while Lee only had a few scuffs.

"Thank you for the assistance Jiraiya-sensei. I wasn't sure if we would have been able to get away with out your assistance." The older man nodded, holding up his mask.

"Of course. I haven't placed this mask on in quite some time, so I'm going to need to redo some of these seals in here. There used to be one in here that changed my voice and changed the color of my hair. Need to had one that makes my hair shorter also." Lee nodded, looking at his own spandex suit.

"I'm going to need a suit if I'm going to go out now with you. An actual one. And could you do that seal for us both? To change the voice when we have our facemasks on?" Jiraiya nodded at the eager boy, who was now excited to actually be part of the fighting team, but Naruto sighed, rising from his spot.

"Just Lee. Tempest doesn't need that seal, because he's retired." Lee turned towards him, a look of shock on his face.

"Naruto, you can't be serious! Right now, Tempest is needed most!" Naruto scoffed, walking back them towards the counter, resting his arms on it.

"Tempest causes problems! This whole Mizuki thing has escalated so much! Tempest only gets his friends in trouble." Naruto looked down solemnly, making Lee frown.

"Tempest did nothing." Naruto turned his head to the side, watching Jiraiya walk towards him and place a hand on his shoulder. "Without Tempest, Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku would have been killed for protection money, and Mizuki would have continued his reign. People would have died. Tempest is the only thing stopping Mizuki from total control at the moment. I'll tell you this Naruto." He looked into his grandson's eyes. "Right now, Mizuki is on the end of his rope. Most of his crew is in jail, and he's been forced to retreat twice. This third battle… It will be the climax, and it will either end up with lots of people dead, or with Mizuki behind bars. And that all depends on you. Because we need Tempest with us to fight him." Naruto smiled and looked away from his grandfather, breathing in deeply.

"You're right. But we have to figure out something to defeat Mizuki. I got lucky that he wasn't paying attention earlier, so I was able to get a good wallop on him. But that power of his is not in our favor." Near them, Lee nodded, taking a place near the counter.

"We confirmed that it's not passive though. He has to manually activate it in order to use its power." Jiraiya released his hand, walking towards the sofa.

"I have an idea, but it's dangerous. But let's rest for today. It was a long one." Naruto nodded, walking past Lee and plopped on the couch next to the older man. "Tomorrow, we begin training for that move. I like to call it 'The Rasengan.'"

* * *

Outside the Konoha police department, dozens of cops rushed towards their cars, as well as Anko Mitarashi and Iruka Umino, all of them hellbent on getting to the Midori Docks as fast as they could. Using this as a distraction, a long figure was able to make his way into the police office easily. There was a few officers still in the precinct, but he was more than prepared for that. Quietly making his way through the office, he stopped in front of the interrogation room that held Hinata Hyuga. With a quick breath, he opened the door, seeing the girl siting in her usual pajama attire. She looked up from her lone room and gasped, her eyes showing her confusion.

"Neji? What are you doing here?" Walking through the door-frame, Neji gave the girl a cold stare.

"I wanted to see the fabled Hyuga heir one last time before she is locked up forever. It wasn't easy, putting this all together, so I might as well as see the fruits of my labors." Hinata tilted her head slightly, confused.

"You? But Neji? Why?" She didn't understand any of this. Neji laughed slightly, but before he could answer, the door closed behind him, revealing the redhead leaning on the wall.

"Yeah Neji. Care to tell us why?" She gave the boy a dirty look, who turned his head and shot her a side glare.

"Runa Akahime. I should have figured the princess' butler would be nearby." Runa let out a small sigh, her nose twitching slightly.

"Second time today. I ain't a butler, "she spoke, cracking her knuckles. Hinata's driver rose from her leaning position, giving the man a smirk. "We both know I'm the bodyguard."

* * *

"Is there a reason you are in my home?" Hizashi Hyuga rose from his floor, a look of annoyance in his eyes. Across the room of his dojo / home, Hiashi was standing with a glare.

"You are the only other Juuken user in existence. Is there a reason you are framing my daughter?" Hiashi glared at his brother, his palm forward already. Hizashi laughed, raising his own palm forward.

"The only user? My brother, are you sure about that? Neji and Hinata are both exceptional people. To assume it's just us is mighty confident of you." Hiashi narrowed his eyes, not liking his brother's words.

"I don't like your words brother." Hizashi looked forward, a small curl on his lips.

"Perhaps your daughter really is a killer." Without warning, Hiashi charged towards his brother, fist at the ready.

* * *

 **Short chapter today this time. Like really short compared to the others. Lot's of stuff planned for these two final episodes of the first half of season 1 though. Next chapter should be longer than usual (For clarification, I make every chapter 15 pages, typed at 11 font)**

 **R &R and tell me what you think!**


	10. Episode 10: Hyuga War

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Update Notes: Nothing really to preface. Might have more updates next chapter.**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 10: Hyuga War**

* * *

Instantly, Hiashi was on his brother. Using the same style of fighting, Hizashi pushed his brother's hand up, careful not to touch his palm or any of the light blue energy illuminating it.

"An immediate juuken to the chest. Are you trying to kill me brother?" Hiashi refused to acknowledge his brother, but war forced back to avoid the rebound strike Hizashi sent towards his chest. "Guess the feeling is likewise, huh?"

"Always the chatty one." Hiashi spoke calmly, trying to keep his mind calm, especially after learning of his brother's frame job on his niece. Rushing forward once more, he sent a palm strike forward, that Hizashi easily dodged by side-stepping left. Unlucky for Hiashi, he was much slower than his brother and received a blue-aura'ed juuken to his right arm.

"It helps to stay active brother! Or did you forget that while sitting upon your polished throne?" Hiashi jumped back, breathing heavily at his now disabled arm. Looking at it, he pushed his left arm against it, and his arm pushed a gust of wind around, the force of him juuken'ing his own arm. "Or you can just do that I guess." Hizashi muttered, watching Hiashi regain control of his arm. The elder Hyuga regained his fighting stance and gave his brother a look.

"Simple science. You should know that Hizashi." His brother rolled his eyes, charging another blue fist, only this one was aimed at Hiashi's face.

* * *

Across the city, a similar battle was going down. Runa swung towards Neji, who easily dodged the punch and went to press his palm against Runa's stomach. Having worked with the Hyuga for years, Runa already knew exactly what he was planning. Using the momentum from her swing, she swung her opposite foot towards Neji, forcing him to back off or take the strike. While her leg was in the air, he went to press his palm against her leg, but she took hold of the nearby chair, using it to change her momentum and swing the foot back, hitting his hand away. The two backed off from one another, Neji wearing a neutral expression, while Runa was wearing a smirk.

"Really think I can't fight a juuken? Don't make me laugh kid." Neji's expression darkness, but he stiffened his back.

"The juuken isn't the only thing that would make me a dangerous opponent. It would be wise of you to move out of my way Runa. I will show no mercy." She smirked, a hand on her hip.

"Funny. I wasn't going to say the same for you." She charged forward again, Neji immediately readying his form. Hinata gasped and attempted to back to the nearest corner, away from all the fighting. She threw a jab towards Neji, who easily backed from the strike, preparing a counter open palm against her arm. Using her other hand, she punched the table, sending it sliding against the floor and into Neji's waist, making him keel over slightly. Taking advantage, she quickly ripped off her belt, flinging it towards his neck and wrapping it around him. He growled, kicking the table away (which crashed near Hinata, making her yelp)

"So this is your chain whip? Father told me a lot about this blade. A lot about the damned Akahime. So you really are a whore from that clan." Runa's expression turned neutral, not allowing her anger to show, but letting her smirk disappear. She flicked her wrist, making the belt quickly snap into sections, a new metal blade on each section. Before it could reach Neji, he pushed backwards and jerked his neck, breaking through the leather section and breaking the belt.

"And here I thought you weren't supposed to kill any Hyuga members? I guess it doesn't matter since your ancient was nothing but a broken blade." Runa failed to suppress her smirk as she cracked the sword whip. Neji turned quickly, but not quick enough to dodge. From behind him, the leather strip that ripped turned into a blade and flew towards him, slashing his left leg. In front of him, the section flew towards and connected with Runa's whip, making the blade complete again.

"No really. Go ahead Neji. Try and disrespect the Akamuchi-Ittou again and you'll regret it." Neji looked at his leg with a glare before turning to Runa, readying his juuken stance once more.

"I'm angry now Runa. You are going to regret this." As he spoke, his open palm started to radiate blue.

* * *

Back at the HyugaDojo, Hizashi's home and rival company to his brother's vastly larger HyugaTech, Hiashi was pushed towards a wall, denting it slightly. In front of him, Hizashi let out a large breath, walking slowly towards his brother.

"It's as I said brother. I am the vastly superior Hyuga. You stopped your training and you have let your skills go to waste. It's a shame too. You were always so smart. A man like you could have taken the juuken to a whole new level. Such wasted potential." Hiashi started to growl, lifting himself up slowly, groaning the entire time.

"You are a fool Hizashi. Too think I would have allowed my skills to get rusty." Now on his feet, he let out a breath. "It's about time I stop toying with you. You must pay for crimes you have afflicted on to my family." With a glare, Hizashi thrust a palm onto Hiashi's stomach, a sad smile on his face.

"Goodbye Hiashi." He waited a moment, but there was nothing, which made him look at his hand on his brother chest with a look of shock. Before he could say anything, Hiashi slammed his own fist forward into Hizashi's head, sending him flying with a gust of wind towards the floor, screaming the entire time and clutching his head.

"We never stop learning in this world Hizashi. To think using energy as a weapon is the only basis for the juuken. It's sad. No one from the Hyuga ever once thought of the other possibilities of the ability we share. An advanced user of the juuken, if they can match a person's output, can cancel out a juuken attack. I informed you that I wasn't rusty brother." Hiashi got back into his fighting stance, just as Hizashi was rising, hate in his face and tears down his face.

"Shut the hell up!" He recklessly rushed forward, trying to send a juuken to his brother's own head. With such a small target, Hiashi would dodge easily before striking both his brother's shoulder's blowing them both out and knocking the muscles unconscious.

"Be wise or you will actually die brother." Hizashi growled louder and charged him again, his arms barely able to move. With a sigh, Hiashi struck his shoulder and chin, sending Hizashi upwards and crashing into the ground. Before he could rise again, he slammed both palms into both of his ankles, sending a small gust of wind downwards and making the man scream more.

"You bastard. Think you're so high and mighty!" He spat, struggling to hold his head up as he glared at his brother. "Not a single killing strike! You think you're so much better!" Hiashi rose and placed his hands in his kimono, now sure that Hizashi was successfully subdued.

"No reason to strike with deadly intent. I have no desire to kill you. But I am taking you to the police station, where you will confess to the murder and to framing my daughter Hinata." Hizashi scoffed, looking away from his elder brother.

"Like hell. You think I will actually take the blame for that? I didn't even do anything." Hiashi sighed grabbing his collar and hoisting him over his shoulder.

"I'm aware. But if you are in trouble, do you think your son will sit idly by? Or do you think young Neji will take the blame? Are you truly okay ruining his life?" Hizashi stopped, pondering his brother's words. His face contorted to anger, knowing the truth in his words.

* * *

"I warned you." Neji spat, his back facing Hinata and his front towards the police door. Unlike before, the room was now destroyed, the table in splinters, and the glass from the interrogation room shattered, Runa laying in the debris and glass. Hinata watched in horror, seeing her driver battered and bloody.

"N-neji! How?" Hinata was confused. Her cousin had generated some weird blast with his hands and Runa was utterly destroyed by it. "What was that power?" Neji scoffed, now turning to fully face her.

"Disgusting. You know nothing of the Hyuga's true power. The juuken is a true staple of the Hyuga and the fact you know nothing about it shows you are not worthy of the name Hyuga!" Neji showed a rare sight of anger, his eyes radiating hate. Before she could respond, he opened the door, refusing to look towards her.

"Look at the mess you made." Hinata stared at the door as it slammed, trying to regain her thoughts. Before she could think any further on the Neji situation, she turned to Runa, worry in her eyes.

Neji walked defiantly through the police station, surprised no one heard the altercation between himself and Runa. His unasked question was answered as he turned the corner to the main hall of the station, seeing his father laying at the feet of his uncle.

"I confess. I was the one that killed that man. He came to me, wanting to rob me and I attacked him before he could attack me. It was not my niece, Hinata Hyuga." Once again stunned, Neji froze before running towards the two brothers.

"Father!" Now all eyes turned to Neji, confused at how he arrived at the station. Out of all of them though, Hizashi was the most confused.

"Neji? Why are you here?" He almost turned to Hiashi in anger, feeling betrayed when the boy interrupted him.

"What is this about you committing a murder? You did no such thing!" Hizashi looked to his son, a small smile on his face, thinking about Hiashi's earlier assessment of the boys loyalty.

"Yes, Neji. I did. I killed a drug dealer in an alleyway a few days prior." The look he gave his son spoke volumes, which made the boy take pause. He sighed and rose up, looking at the officers.

"After all the police work is done, let me speak to my father please."

* * *

"Thanks to the efforts of Tempest and the Konoha Police Force, it seemed they were able to make a major break, arresting over 2 dozen members of the notorious Tsubaki Gang." Sakura was watching the news in awe, her eyes shining at the still of Tempest on screen.

"It seemed that the Tsubaki Gang had actually resorted to kidnapping and took someone hostage, which seemed to be Ayame Ichiraku, daughter of local business head Teuchi Ichiraku, owner of the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant here in Konoha. As of now, police are on the lookout for any more members of the Tsubaki Gang, and Ayame is safe with police protection." The angle of the news camera switched, signaling a change in topic in the station. Sakura clicked off the TV, letting it blank out before rising for her bag.

"Mom! I'm going out! I'll be back within the hour!" She rushed down the stairs, reaching for the door knob before her mom spoke out.

"Wait Sakura!" The pinkette froze at the door, turning to see her mother in the kitchen, a worrisome look on her face. "Where are you going?"

"Ino wanted to meet up and go shopping, probably have me try some new restaurant. I swear that girl is gonna fatten me up," she lied, a small chuckle out of her lips. Mebuki let out a small sigh of relief, turning back to the kitchen.

"Text me when you are with her and when you are coming home. Don't be home too late!" Sakura gave her a vocal affirmation before heading out the door. She didn't enjoy lying, especially to her mom, but she had no choice. If she knew what she was really doing, there was no way she would have let her daughter out of the house.

* * *

"Man, I'm so bored!" Aoba muttered, sitting in the patrol car parked in front of the Ichiraku household. Next to him, Iruka took a sip of coffee, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Aoba, it's only been 2 hours. You're worse than Anko with this." Aoba shot him a dirty look, still clearly evident through the mans sunglasses.

"Yeah, I'd love to be compared to her. She's my favorite person." He replied sarcastically, making the other man roll his eyes. Before he could say anything, he gestured forward, seeing the pink-haired girl approaching the house. "We got someone." Aoba groaned, opening the door.

"Hey! What's your business here?" Sakura looked over, freezing slightly at Aoba. Her mind wasn't able to process, so she simply stood there, staring at the man. "Hey, are you deaf kid? I asked what the hell you are doing here!" He yelled out, scaring the girl even further. The other door opened, Iruka coming out with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Aoba, stop it," he spoke, careful not to speak to loudly. Unlike his fellow officer, Iruka remembered the girls distinct pink hair, and the case that surrounded her. He walked towards her, his hands slightly raised. "Hey, it's okay." He spoke softly, careful not to be too quick or talk too loud. "Are you here to see Ayame?"

"Y-y-yes." She stammered out, her entire brain screaming for her to run away. The man in front of her nodded, stopping his advancement, as he was in speaking distance.

"Is she expecting you? Otherwise we might not be able to let you in. She's a high priority target for some crooks right now." Sakura looked down, her head fallen.

"N-no… She's not." She turned to walk away, feeling crestfallen about the recent development. After about two steps, another voice rang out, this one from the house.

"She's fine! Let her in." The girl looked up, seeing Ayame from the balcony of her house, some bandages wrapped around her face. "Come on in pinkie." She smirked, walking back into the house. Sakura looked towards the officer, who gestured to the door with a smile. She nodded, quickly skirting past the man towards the door.

"Smooth." Aoba muttered as Iruka got back to the car, closing it with a small slam. "Guess she wasn't deaf." Iruka smacked the man's chest, an angry glare on his face.

"Don't be dumb. Don't you remember her? The girl that was attacked. Obviously, she isn't adjusted to men. So you can't just shout at her!" Aoba rolled his eyes, leaning against the car door.

"Whatever. Ugh, why are we here anyway? I thought officers are supposed to be the ones doing the police protection. Why are we here?" Iruka let out another sigh, really regretting his choices on this one.

"We are the Mizuki Task Force. This is a highly volatile case and she is a target. So we have to make sure that no Tsubaki Gang tries to get her from the house." Aoba let out another groan, making the other man pinch his nose. He was really starting to hate that Anko took a different assignment than him.

* * *

"Like I said, I don't know anything!" A man shouted, gesturing with his hands, which were handcuffed to the table. In front of him, Anko growled and leaned back in her chair. Next to him, Ibiki sat with his arms crossed.

"If you have no information, you will be prosecuted with the fullest extent of the law. We will not be able to help you at all. Help us, so we can help you." The man chuckled, shaking his head and shrugging.

"I said I don't know."

After a few minutes, Ibiki and Anko were alone in the room, Anko with her hands in her heads.

"We got so many of them and we got nowhere today." Ibiki nodded, a small sigh leaving his lips.

"Even your tattoo did nothing. These are all very loyal members to Mizuki. Which is awful, considering how easily he would throw them under the bus." She rose her face, still not used to people mentioning her tattoo. Luckily for her, Ibiki was one of the few people that knew and didn't judge her about the past of her tattoo.

"They all can't be loyal. We still have a lot to go through." She muttered, leaning back in her chair. "Let's just bring the next one out and keep this train rolling." Ibiki nodded, making a gesture to the glass. After a few moments, the door opened, allowing another Mizuki Loyalist walk in, an officer leading him in.

* * *

"Any reason you decided to pay me a visit, pinkie? Actually, I'm more concerned at how you knew where I lived? It's not like we are friends and I've ever told you." Sakura frowned slightly, looking down.

"I, uh… asked around. Found out. I know we aren't friends or have actually ever talked, I just needed to speak to you." Ayame nodded, leaning against a wooden drawer in the living room. From outside, Sakura could see the bandages on her face, but now that she was face to face with the girl, she had even more bandages around one of her arms, and the other was placed in a sling.

"Well, that's not creepy at all." Sakura started to frown, looking downwards. "But that's fine. What did you want to talk about?" She looked back up at the brown-haired girl, who was giving her a warm smile. For some reason, she felt her cheeks flush a little and averted her eyes.

"You know Tempest, right? Like, I know he's saved you a few times, but like personally? Like you're able to talk to him right?" Ayame gave the girl a questioning look, trying to gauge a reaction.

"Is there a reason you're asking? I'm not saying I know the guy, but if I did and all you wanted was to deliver some fan mail or ask for a number, you're going to out of luck girl." Sakura looked back to her, the girls face more stern.

"No no! That's not it at all. I just…" She started, but placed her mouth on her hands, in thought. She hated how timid she had become because of this whole ordeal.

"You just what?" She leaned her head down slightly, matching eye contact with the high school girl.

"I want him to train me!" She blurted out, her face flushing again slightly. Ayame froze for a moment before giving her a deadpanned look.

"Huh? Train you? Really?" Sakura gave another frown, it dangerously close to turning into a scowl.

"Yes train! He's so strong and is able to stop the bad guys! If I was strong enough to stop those people that attacked me and Ino…" She shook her head. "Things would have been different! So I want him to teach me how to fight and defend myself." Ayame gave the girl another look around after she had finished her explanation, making the pinkette slightly nervous. After a few more seconds of silence, the Ichiraku girl gave out a sigh.

"Sorry, kiddo. I don't know him personally. He's just saved me a few times." The girl started to frown and look down, but her action was interrupted by Ayame coughing slightly. "But… If I did know the guy, he'd probably tell you that he isn't the best teacher, and that he would recommend taking classes and going to the gym. I can recommend the one best for that also." She gave her a warm smile, making Sakura give a light smile back. Sakura wasn't dumb and she easily picked up the meaning behind Ayame's words.

"I'd like that."

* * *

"Yo, Shikamaru, did you see the whole shebang with the Tsubaki Gang yesterday?" Choji shouted and turned around from his desk, holding his phone to Shikamaru, who was facedown on his own desk. "It says they were able to get like 30 guys from the bust!" In the desk next to Shikamaru's, Naruto raised his eyebrow slightly, knowing that that number was slightly exaggerated. Near him, Shikamaru raised his head slightly, giving his best friend a lazy look.

"Yeah, I saw an article this morning. The Tempest guy is troublesome, but it's nice he's cleaning up the streets." Having said his two cents, Shikamaru placed his head back to the desk to try and resume sleeping. Choji turned to look at Naruto.

"What about you Naruto?" He smiled at the boy, nodding his head.

"I think it's great! It's really nice that someone out here is taking the bad guys out. That Tsubaki Gang was getting dangerous too!" He couldn't help but beam brightly, glad friends are starting to side more towards Tempest's side. Of course, there were always the people against him.

"Tch. Not sure why he is necessary. The police need to take care of their own work and take care of these threats themselves." Sasuke muttered, sitting in front of Naruto and across from Choji. The blond gave his raven-haired friend a scowl.

"They should but they aren't. Sooooo," He spoke, elongating the 'o' to get his point across. "I'm glad this masked guy is taking out the crooks!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, giving a small 'Hn'.

"He IS a masked crook though." Naruto gave him a confused look, so Sasuke let out a sigh, fully turning towards the other boys. "Some rebel guy with no rules or regulations going out and doing whatever he wants. No accountability. Can do whatever he wants. What a hero." Sasuke scoffed again, upsetting Naruto. He was about to retort when Shikamaru chimed in.

"You know he's right Naruto. Nothing is stopping Tempest from one day deciding he's done and using his powers against people." Naruto looked appalled at the notion, not speaking in time to stop Choji.

"You know, I love the hero. But yeah, I do agree with y'all." He quickly munched down a chip before looking at Naruto." It's not like anyone can stop a superhero if they go rogue. He could just wind them to pieces or some crap!" Naruto was starting to turn real sour at the conversation when a piece of chalk went flying towards him, smacking the wall next to him and startling all 4 boys.

"IS THERE A REASON YOU ALL ARE TALKING STILL?" Shizune shouted, her face enlarged in rage and scaring all 4 of the younger boys.

* * *

"Naruto, I have a question?" Naruto was one of the last remaining in his class, packing up his belongings for the day. He waved to Sasuke, who was waiting for him at the door, but turned to leave with a small salute, leaving only Naruto and the teacher in the room.

"Sure, what's up Sissy?" While she would normally start to chastise the boy for calling her that at school, she kept a sad look on her face.

"Have you happened to see Kiba lately? He's missed quite a few days and I'm just starting to worry about him. You seen him around?" Now that he had thought about it, Kiba was absent the last few days of school.

"Uh, no actually. Kiba and I never really saw eye to eye, so we never hung out much. But no, I haven't seen the guy in a bit, now that you said something. I think he's fine though!" Shizune nodded, an unsure look still on her face.

"I think so too. Just… You never know with this town, honestly? It's been getting pretty hectic these last few weeks." He gave his faux-sister a small nod, a smile still on his face.

"Yeah but Kiba's just a kid! It's not like anything would happen to him, right?" Shizune thought for a moment, but nodded, albeit biting her lip as she did.

"Yeah, you're right. You're good to go Naruto. See you tomorrow." She smiled and he gave her his salute, rushing out the classroom.

"Later Sissy!" She growled at him slightly, but the door was already shut. Now alone, Shizune let out a lone sigh, sitting back down at her desk. With a small groan, she looked out the window, Naruto already walking out of the building, have climbed down the 3 flights of stairs almost instantly, he rushed out towards the street, passing the sitting forms of Sakura, Ino and Hinata, which made the girl frown.

* * *

"Like, handcuffs and everything?" Ino asked, eagerness on her face. Next to her, Sakura lightly slapped the blondes chest.

"Ino, I don't think she really wants to talk about all of that. It was probably a very traumatic experience!" Ino frowned slightly at Sakura's words, realizing the pinkette's own trauma and realizing how she sounded.

"You're right," she muttered, looking down to the ground. "Sorry Hinata, that probably was a jerk thing of me." She felt an hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Hinata smiling down at her.

"No worries Ino. It wasn't rude. And thank you Sakura, it was a slightly traumatic experience, but I'm okay giving Ino the details if she wishes." Hinata turned and looked at Sakura as she thanked her, who was giving her an unsure look about her experiences. Unknown to her, Hinata was perfectly fine with the experience, the only thing that startled her at all was the recent events with her cousin, Neji Hyuga.

"I just think it's wild. You're uncle of all people. And to frame you! Like, I don't mean to speak ill of people, but that is not cool at all to do!" Hinata frowned slightly, looking off to the distance, now deep in thought.

"I don't understand his reasonings, but yes. Please don't speak ill of other people's families." Both the girls gulped and exchanged a look. She might have said it in her normal gentle tone, but they could feel the edge in her voice. To Sakura, she just felt that Hinata was more traumatized than she let on and wished to not speak anymore of this, but to Ino, it felt as if Hinata would not let anyone insult her family name; she is the daughter of one of the most famous technology companies in all of Japan.

"Yeah. Sorry." Ino mumbled, looking away from the girls. Hinata let out a sigh and rose up from her spot on the bench.

"I have to go now. My driver was hurt recently, and I want to go see her in the hospital. I will see you ladies tomorrow." She bowed politely to her friends before walking towards the arches of Konoha High. From their position, Sakura shot Ino a dirty look.

"Wow. Ask her about being arrested, why don't you?" Ino shot the girl a scowl back, an argument starting to brew between the two.

* * *

"Look, I'm sorry!" A man started to scream, covering his face with his hands, not wanting to look at the cops in front of him. Anko and Ibiki shared a look, confusion on their faces.

"I only do what Mizuki tells me to do. I never asked for any of this! I'll tell you whatever you want, just please don't release me!"

"Okay, usually this is the part where the criminal begs to not be locked up. Any reason why you want to be in the slammer?" He looked towards them, lowering his hands and letting the shackles dangle. He was a normal looking man, brown hair and brown eyes, with a short of long face and tan skin. He easily wouldn't have stood out in a crowd.

"Don't play dumb! You all know Mizuki Tsubaki is a mad man. But that's it. He's just a man. Once the big guy finds out we were all captured, he's going to have everyone released killed! I'm not messing with that guy!" Ibiki and Anko looked towards each other, eyes wide.

"The big guy?"

"What do you mean, the big guy?" The asked simultaneously, making him scoff and give a look towards Anko.

"Like you don't know. Mizuki's boss will kill us all." Ibiki looked through the notes on the table, throwing them down and leveling a glare at the man.

"All our reports indicate that Mizuki is the leader of the Tsubaki Gang. There is another leader of the gang?" He scoffed again, his gaze now directed towards Ibiki.

"No! Obviously Mizuki leads the gang! This is a little Konoha shin-dig! Tsubaki is only the part of a larger gang! Everyone knows that Mizuki and the gang work for the Purple Snake!" As the words left his mouth, Anko froze, almost shaking at the allegation. Ibiki glanced over, checking on his partner. Before either of them could interact, the man started to laugh slightly.

"Bet that's not good news for you, huh? Anko Mitarashi." She woke from her thoughts, her hand subconsciously going towards her neck tattoo.

"So Mizuki works for the Purple Snake. The leader for them is public knowledge though. The leader of the Purple Snake, Masahiko Tanaka, is currently serving life in prison in Suna. Why would you fear him?" The man was about to speak, but Anko interrupted him.

"Wrong. Masahiko was a fall man." Ibiki glanced over, as did the man in chains, but he was wearing a smirk.

"She's right. You really think a man like Masahiko could put all of Japan in terror?" Anko looked towards the man, a glare on her face that made him freeze, her eyes reminding him of a horror he only experienced once before.

"Silence." He leaned back in the chair, sweat starting to form at his forehead. With the man now subdued, she turned to Ibiki, a neutral expression on her face.

"The leader of the Purple Snake is Orochimaru no Hebi. Orochimaru the Snake, my former teacher." Ibiki listened, his face not showing his current emotions. To him, it was common knowledge the Anko used to be a high ranking member of the Purple Snake, but it never occurred to him that was a direct apprentice of the leader and founder.

"See. She knows. She knows why I fear him. I've seen his mark in action. It's terrifying. It made me feel like dying. Like he was going to kill me with a snap of his fingers! I can't stay out there for that!" Anko turned towards him, curiousness on her face.

"His mark? I hate to tell you this, but no." He looked confused, but Anko continued. "Actually no. I don't hate to tell you this. Orochimaru's mark is unlike anything you've ever seen. His mark is able to kill someone on the spot! All you saw was his aura. His terrible damning aura." She shook her head in anger.

"Nonetheless, you want protection from the Purple Snake, yes?" Ibiki started and received a nod from the man. "Okay good. We just have some questions we need answered before we can do anything for you. First of all, we know Mizuki has Konoha Police on his payroll. We need to know who they are." The man nodded, his lips moving and telling a name to them. Anko and Ibiki exchanged worried glances, before Anko rose from her chair, dashing towards the door.

* * *

"Ayame!?" Naruto shouted, running towards the Ichiraku house, worry on his face. He called Lee earlier and informed him that he was going to check on the girl and make sure she was okay, but when he arrived, the police car was empty and her door wide open. He looked around the kitchen, seeing a kitchen knife on the floor, trace amounts of blood on it, as well as her usual headband. Next to those, a pair of goggle-like glasses laid there, a giant crack on them. Before he could worry more, he heard quick footsteps and rushed to hide in the nearby closet. Just as the door slid closed, he heard footsteps hitting her hardwood floor.

"Konoha PD!" He heard Anko's distinct voice shout out, worry on her face. Looking around, she saw the headband and the goggles on the floor and bent down to pick them up. She turned to the man behind her, a tall stoic looking man with scars.

"We were too late. Damn." He spoke in a deep voice, but it still carried the emotion of worry. Next to him, Anko growled and rose from her kneeling position.

"We have to find Genma Shiranui. I'm going to beat his partners location out of him. How dare they work for Mizuki! And right under my fuckin' skin!" She shouted, throwing the goggles and the headband to the floor. The taller man nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It will be fine. Let's find Genma now." With that, he released his hold of her and turned to leave. She glared down at the floor, before stomping out, anger evident in her body language.

Luckily, neither of the noticed the cyan blue orbs watching them, or their quick flash of anger, which made them look almost crimson.

* * *

"Knock knock, we are here." Aoba started, knocking on the Ichiraku door. "Not sure why, but we are here…" Iruka gave the man a dirty look when Ayame suddenly answered, a serious expression on her face and a kitchen knife in her hand. "Whoa whoa!" Aoba started, backing up and placing a hand on his hip, near his gun.

"Get in quick! I think they are nearby. Sneaking near the house." The two detectives exchanged a look before nodding and walking in to the house, closing the door behind them.

"Have you checked the house?" Aoba started, looking around the house quietly. She nodded, walking next to him with the knife still in her hand.

"Yes. I didn't see anyone inside, but I caught a glimpse near my window." She whispered, looking around and not noticing Iruka behind them.

The detective looked between her and Aoba, his hand on his gun. He slowly started to pull it out, as quietly as possible so neither would hear.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger. Fun I know. Anyway, next chapter will be the mid-season finale for the first Season of Tempest. Which I'm excited for. Honestly, this half season has dragged on for so long. I'm tired about writing about this basic bitch Mizuki. I'm a lot more excited for this next half, so hopefully I'll be able to upload faster.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Keep on shining, y'all!**


	11. Episode 11: Naruto vs Mizuki

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Reviews:**

 **Guest (Really): Not sure what is the crossover element? I mean, so far it's literally been all OC's and Naruto characters. There has only been one cameo from a different anime, so not sure where this crossover comment is coming from, but you do you boo.**

* * *

 **Update Notes: Here we go! Mid-season finale. Lots to give in this one, so let's strap in and do this boys!**

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 11: Naruto vs. Mizuki**

* * *

"Get me everything on Genma Shiranui!" Naruto exclaimed into his Bluetooth headset, startling Jiraiya and Lee, who were on the other end at his condo.

"Naruto, what's going on? Who's Genma Shiranui?" Lee started, but was cut off by Naruto and the blasting of wind in the mic.

"Konoha detective! He works for Mizuki! He also kidnapped Ayame! I need to find where they took her now!" Lee froze, confusion evident in his voice. Before he could start his sentence, he was cut off again by the blond. "Dirty cops were the ones watching her. I'm flying to the police station in Kaminarimon District to see if he's there." As he shouted that, he jumped off a rooftop, using his wind to springboard himself further.

"That's his usual precinct it says from the files I was able to rip," Jiraiya started, a pause in the call. "But that's all I can find. He has been on assignment with the Mizuki Task Force. I can get you the leader's number and patch you through. His name is Ibiki Morino and he's a Lieutenant of the Konoha PD and supervisor of the detectives." Naruto nodded, narrowly dodging a pipe in the alley he was jumping through.

"Patch me through!" Jiraiya nodded and started to patch Naruto to Ibiki, which Lee watched in amazement.

"I wasn't aware you knew this kind of technological stuff, Jiraiya-sensei!" Jiraiya simply smirked at the kid before slamming his finger on the keyboard, causing a ringing to go off in Naruto's ear.

* * *

Anko was not having it and she sped through Konoha, her siren blaring and daring people to challenger her. After everything that had happened, she was in no mood for any games. At that same moment, Ibiki's phone began to ring. Holding it up, he raising an eyebrow before showing it to Anko, both of them seeing the 'Private Number' contact information. Answering it, he immediately slide the dial to speaker phone and held in near the center of the car.

"Hello, this is Lieutenant Morino of the Konoha PD." He began, not expecting the massive wind blast of static through the phone.

"Morino, this is Tempest." A distorted voice began, making the two detectives look at each other in amazement.

"I need the location of Genma Shiranui. I'm currently heading to a police station to see if he is there. I have reason to believe he works with Mizuki and I need to stop him." Ibiki considered his words, but was unable to answer as Anko snatched the phone.

"Bastard is usually at the Nakayoshi station. He likes to flirt with the receptionist. We are on our way to arrest him now." Ibiki glared at Anko for giving the information so easily, but she simply glared at him.

"I'll head there now. I'm going to get information on Ayame Ichiraku from him. I'll call back with her location later. I'll try and leave some of the bastard left for you Anko." A distinct click was heard as the phone locked itself, signaling the end of the call. She handed the phone to Ibiki, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

"I like him."

* * *

"Another day, another dime." Genma muttered to himself, walking out of the Nakayoshi station as the sun was starting to set. As he walked towards his car, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and looked down to lit it. Unknown to him, he walked into a man and dropped his cigarette and lighter, annoying him greatly.

"Dude, really, why are you in my… way?" He began in an annoyed town until he looked forward to seeing the dark blue hood of Tempest, as well as his signature half mask. Before he could speak, Tempest sent a kick towards his knee, knocking him over and he pushed his own knee into the man's chest, and rose a fist, wind swirling around it quickly and threateningly.

"Ayame Ichiraku! Where did you take her?" He shouted, making Genma stop squirming, looking in fear.

"What are you even on about man? We are watching her at her house! We don't want Mizuki to get her!" Tempest growled, slamming his fist down into the concrete near him, leaving a small fist-sized crater.

"I know you work for Mizuki! You were sold out! Where did you and Iruka Umino take her!" He shouted again, wind swirling again in his fist. Looking at the wind and seeing the destruction near him, made the man almost sob, piss starting to leak in his pants.

"I don't work for him, I swear! I was undercover! I'm still an officer, I've just taken bribes!" He almost pleaded with the man, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"I said, where did you and Iruka Umino take her!" He shouted again, lowering his first so Genma could feel the wind a mere centimeter away from his face.

"Kikyo Warehouse! Building 45! That's all I know, I swear!" Tempest growled at the man, dispelling the wind around his arm but still swinging at the man's face, making him cry out in pain. Naruto grumbled as he rose up from the man, wanting to have knocked the man unconscious, but failing. He reached for his headset, ready to dial Ibiki's number when Genma spoke up.

"Wa-wait… What did you mean? Me and Iruka? Iruka wasn't my partner." Tempest turned to face him, his eyes wide.

"What did you say?"

* * *

 **EARLIER**

* * *

Iruka slowly aimed his pistol towards Aoba, a scowl on his face.

"You know, Anko text me before we came in here. She let me know exactly what was going on." Aoba's eyes widened from under his goggles and he quickly turned, his fist already aimed at Iruka. Before he could fire his gun, Aoba's fist connected with his own, knocking him backwards. Ayame went towards Aoba, her knife already descending on the man. He was able to place his arm up, getting a light slice against his arm. He growled and pushed her over, her head smacking against the side of a table, knocking her headband of and knocking her unconscious. He smirked slightly before turning and receiving a punch to his face, shattering his goggles and sending them to the floor. He looked up from the floor, glaring at the man standing above him with his hazel eyes.

"Really? Working for that creep? Could you sink any lower Aoba?" He smirked slightly, going to punch Iruka, who quickly backstepped the uppercut.

"I'm on the winning team Iruka. That's the smart decision. Really wish you and Anko didn't butt in. Sucks having to kill two great detectives!" As they spoke, Aoba continued to advance towards Iruka, sending a roundhouse kick to the man, who was able to narrowly dodge the kick and counter with a punch to Aoba's kidney.

"Winning team? Mizuki is a crime lord that's going to spend the rest of his days behind bars! You think because you're getting a nice check that it's all going to be okay?" Before he could continue, Aoba was able to land a lucky hit in his side, causing Iruka to bend over slightly. Using this, Aoba sent a quick to punches to Iruka's face, sending him to the ground.

"Yeah, well one of us is gonna be dead by the end of the day, and it ain't me." Aoba smirked, pulling out his phone and requesting back-up.

* * *

"I swear. We were both undercover and Aoba just… He stuck to it!" Genma finished, his hands now in handcuffs. In front of him, Anko and Ibiki gave each other a look, while Tempest stood with his arms crossed.

"So Aoba got too deep. Started to think he was a criminal. And then he became one." Tempest spoke, looking at the two cops in front of him. Ibiki gave him a small glare, wanting to capture the vigilante, but knowing they had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"Seems like it. Which means we have to get to that warehouse before he kills Iruka and Ayame." The other two nodded and they all started to turn when Genma shouted.

"Wait! If Tempest comes with cops, he's gonna kill them both and flee as soon as he can! If he doesn't go alone, they are in danger!" Tempest and Anko looked towards each other, both of them thinking.

"Go Tempest," Ibiki started, his arms crossed and eyes shut. "We will be there shortly to support you, but you have to go alone, if we want to keep everyone alive and okay." Tempest paused before a second before nodding, walking away from them slightly and shooting off wind from his palms, ascending and flying off.

"I'm surprised you actually let him leave. Was expecting an order to take him in." Anko gave her superior a small look, who sighed and gave her an annoyed look.

"First Mizuki. Afterwards, we can capture Tempest at the warehouse." She rolled her eyes as the older man walked away, gesturing for the surrounding officer to start to descend on Genma.

* * *

"Hinata, what are you doing here?" Hinata's eyes lit up as she walked through the entrance of the Runa Akihime's hospital room. She wasn't too beat up, her face covered in bandages and her left arm in a sling.

"One hell of a fall." A nurse next to Hinata remarked, pretending to look busy at checking a sheet. Hinata turned towards her and then looked towards Runa, realizing her cover story.

"Yes, the Hyuga Mansion has some quite unforgiving stairs. Falling in a mansion can hurt pretty bad." It was said politely, but the nurse felt the challenging tone from Hinata, and wished to not go against the daughter of the CEO of HyugaTech. "Anyway," she started back up, ignoring the nurse and walking towards Runa. "How are you doing? I was worried sick about you!" She smiled and placed a hand on Runa's good arm, her skin soft and gentle.

"You know me, Hina! Takes a lot more than some 'stairs' to keep me out of the wrestling ring!" She snorted a bit with a laugh, shooting the girl a swift smirk. She rose her slinged arm, trying to flex it to show the muscle.

"Even so, don't worry me like that again." Runa froze, seeing the worried look on her face, and the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Unable to hold it in, Runa's face flushed a faint pink. She used her arm and wiped away the some of the tears, a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm sorry about that Hina. I didn't mean to worry you like that, and I'll try my best not to." She looked towards the nurse in the room, then looked towards the door. The nurse gave out a sigh, getting tired of dealing with Runa's antics and headed towards the door, making sure to shut it so she wouldn't hear the redhead yell at her.

"What happened in there? I haven't had a chance to ask my father. Juuken you called it?" Runa released her hand from Hinata, a frown on her face. She knew that she had no choice but to reveal everything to the violet-haired girl.

"It's an ancient form of fighting. It's more commonly know as the Hyuga fighting style, Juuken style. It dates back to the Edo period, and back in the days of the hand-to-hand combat with the Hyuga Clan." Hinata nodded, sitting down now in the chair next to her as she listened intently.

"Basically, the Hyuga have mastered the ancient arts of manipulating their energy and using it as a weapon. See the Juuken by itself it a palm based marital art that can really hurt people. But combine it with the Hyuga ability to manipulate energy and chakra, it can disrupt a person's very being, understand?" Hinata nodded slowly, making Runa sigh and gesture for the girls hand. "Gimme." She nodded, trusting Runa and giving her her arm.

"See, I'm no Hyuga and I'm not as skilled at it as they are." She started, but her hand started to glow blue, making Hinata's arm start to feel numb. She tried to pull her arm out of the redhead's grip, but it refused to move how she wanted.

"H-how?" Runa smirked, releasing her and hand, Hinata able to move it again suddenly.

"That is energy manipulation. You can do it by manipulating the energy in your own body, using it as a weapon slightly. Energy, Chakra, Chi. Whatever you want to call it. All humans can do it, Hyuga's just learnt it from long ago and it's almost imprinted into their DNA. So it'll be easier for you guys. I can't use it in combat, but I know the basics of the manipulation." Hinata nodded again, now fully understanding what Runa had meant.

"So when you and Neji were fighting?" Runa nodded, making Hinata's eyes widen. "So then… The murder?" Runa sighed, looking towards the ceiling.

"No one knows honestly. We knew your father and Hizashi are both high-level Juuken users. It appears so is Neji. The guy was basically killed with a high level Juuken blast. Such a large energy blast that it was like he was shot with a shotgun. I know your father and I know he wouldn't murder someone and then frame It on his own daughter or brother. So honestly, it had to have been wither Neji or Hizashi, but I don't know for certain."

"So Hanabi and I? We can use Juuken?" Runa turned her head to the questioning girl, her face neutral. After a few seconds of silence, she looked back to the ceiling.

"I suppose. It's not easy. You can't just snap your fingers and suddenly are a master. The Juuken is like any martial art and it takes awhile to learn it, let alone master it. Energy manipulation will be easier for you with your blood, but it won't be a walk in the park." Hinata looked down suddenly, as Runa had her good hand on her chin in thought.

"Would you be able to show me?" Runa looked at the girl in surprise, her eyebrows raised.

"Sorry honey. Much as I would love to show you, I'm no Juuken user. Others can learn the style, but it's no where near as effective as it is in the hands of a Hyuga." Hinata pursed her lips, looking back up at the woman in front of her.

"Then energy manipulation. The basics at least! I can talk to Father and hope he will show me more, but I can't just let things go on like they have." Runa frowned at the girl, a scowl almost developing on her face.

"Hinata no." She spoke in a stern voice, startling the girl slightly. She had never talked to Hinata in such a stern voice before. "I will not teach you how to manipulate energy so you can get revenge on Neji. I won't contribute to this cycle. You are better than that Hinata." ' _And better than me. Don't be like me'_ she thought also, looking away from the girl now.

"I don't want revenge." She said suddenly, though not convincingly. "Okay, yes a little. He hurt you Runa! But mostly…" She paused, collecting her thoughts. "I don't want his father to suffer in prison. I don't think Uncle did anything wrong." Runa sighed, turning back in her bed to face the girl again, who was now standing. "Even so, I would like to learn my birthright as a Hyuga!" Runa couldn't help it and let out a smirk.

"You demanding a birthright? Acting like royalty? Jeez, where did my Hinata Hyuga go?" The pale girl blushed slightly, but refused to look away, actually impressing Runa. "Alright fine." She shuffled slightly, sitting up now and giving the girl a toothy grin. "Once I'm free from these shackles, we will train, alright? But I need sleep for now. You're getting my blood pumping." Hinata nodded, a smile on her face, much larger than the one's she usually showed.

"Alright! I'm excited. Feel better Runa!" She quickly hugged the bedridden woman, careful not to hug too hard or grab anything in a cast. Once the hug was over, Hinata Hyuga went for the door and was gone, making Runa shake her head in amusement.

"What an interesting girl."

* * *

"So whats the plan?" Lee spoke, currently wearing his skin-tight blue jumpsuit, as well as orange leg warmers and bandages around his arm. Near his neck, were a pair of dark blue goggles, and a small hood to his jump suit that looked like horns around the back of his neck.

"Support as much as we can. We can't go in until Naruto has secured Iruka and Ayame though." Jiraya spoke, focusing on driving. Like Lee, he was dressed in his hero attire, which was what he wore the last warehouse, his kabuki mask on the reverse side of his head.

"Agreed. If Mizuki sees anyone besides me, he's likely to just kill them all." Naruto spoke over the speaker phone in the car, whizzing through the air." Lee frowned, tightening his bandages around his arm.

"I don't like this at all. It just feels like a trap." Jiraiya nodded, getting the same feeling.

"It probably is. But at least Mizuki doesn't know Naruto knows. So, at least we have some surprise on our side." Lee looked out the window, just hoping that was enough.

* * *

"Wakey wakey pig!" A cold splash of water woke Iruka from his sleep, making him shake his head and shiver. Opening his eyes, he was blinded by the bright light until it adjusted, two tattooed thugs in front of him. Trying to move, Iruka looked down as he shook, seeing himself tied by chains. Looking back up at the thugs, they snickers and moved out of his eyeline, showing Iruka the warehouse full of Tsubaki gang. While all the gang watched and were laughing, near the center, Mizuki was standing with Ayame, still in her bandages and a hateful look on her face, also tied to a chair.

"Such a damsel in distress, always huh?" Mizuki patted her head, which she violently shook off.

"Go to hell." Mizuki chuckled, taking a step away from her, but giving her a vicious side glance.

"Eventually. But for today, you and the cop are the only ones going there today. Maybe." He winked at her, a crooked smile on his lips. He turned towards his crowd, looking directly at Aoba. "You sure that Genma is going to spill the beans." Aoba nodded, stepping forward.

"Definitely. Tempest and the police should be coming, but it all depends on when they discovered we are all missing from the Ichiraku house. If he listened, he should be hidden, and they don't know our location yet. But they will find him." Mizuki nodded, his face looking more and more wicked with each passing second.

"Good. Then you are of no use anymore." Before Aoba could question Mizuki's words, the thugs near him grabbed his arms, making him start to struggle and look towards Mizuki with wide eyes.

"W-Wait sir! I've done everything you said!" Mizuki nodded, pulling out a large bowie knife, a sadistic smile on his face.

"You did! And you did it all amazingly well Aoba! But you are a cop and the cops will be here soon. So, you've outlived your usefulness." With that, he plunged the large knife into the left side of the man's chest, silencing his pleas and making him shake slightly, before instantly limp and his head falling over.

"In the heart. Always the most satisfying." He smirked and pulled the knife out with a sharp squishy sound, the knife painted a deep hue of red now. The thugs let go of Aoba's arms, letting him fall to the ground with a thud, the red pond under him expanding in size. Iruka glared down at the men, shocking at the betrayal, while Ayame watched with wide eyes, her anxiety starting to peak once more.

"You bastard." Iruka shouted, making the thugs silence and look over. "I knew you were a scumbag, but killing him for doing exactly what you told him to do? Don't any of you realize you are all expendable to him!?" He exclaimed, looking around at them all. Near the center, Mizuki chuckled, walking towards Iruka and stepping over Aoba's body.

"Everyone is expendable, dear Iruka. Including me. We all have a role to fill. These men are smart enough to not get the cops near us. All here are my most loyal and intelligent. I wouldn't dare replace good help like them." He pointed the blade towards his chest, pushing forward a little, to the point where Iruka could feel the point. "You are someone that is not doing the best in his situation." He rescinded the blade, placing it in the holster in his pants.

"See, here's the plan." He started to walk away, looking at Ayame now who was a bit of a distance away from Iruka. "The cops and Tempest are gonna arrive, whenever that idiot's partner blabs. Hopefully, it's in a few days or so and they all are going to barge in here and find both of your corpses. By that point, I hope you're both maggots nests. It worked perfectly too!" He placed a hand on his chin, watching Ayame keenly.

"A gift for Tempest, to teach him to learn where he stands in life." As soon as the sentence was finished, he ran the opposite direction, sliding and kneeling in front of Iruka so they were eye level. "A treasure for Anko to find, so she can finally see what it means to know her role." Iruka glanced over to Ayame, her whole body starting to shake, but she was still glaring at the crazed man.

"You're insane." Mizuki shrugged, rising up from his kneeling position.

"Possibly. But it's not like you can do anything. You'll be a bloodstain in a minute, so I guess I win." He smirked once more while Iruka leveled a glare at the man. Almost instantly, the sound of wind picked up and there was a blue blur slamming down near Ayame, blowing away the guys nearby and knocking them off their feet. Next to a still-tied Ayame, Tempest rose with a glare on his face.

"Yeah, but I can do something about it!"

* * *

"Tempest is in the warehouse. He's near Ayame it looks like, but not on Iruka. Neither hostages are secure, so we need to hold out." Ibiki spoke into his headset, watching intently on a monitor. While Mizuki was ranting, the police were able to arrive silently, setting up several small camera inside the warehouse, hearing Mizuki's entire crazed plan. "I guess Tempest is good." He muttered, watching the camera intently. Anko turned towards him, one headphone off of her head.

"Oh yeah? Really now? I heard that correctly, right?" He gave her a hard side glare before turning back to the camera.

"With Genma's confession, we have probably cause. With the cameras and audio, we have proof of Mizuki's insanity. We were also able to capture the tail end of Aoba's murder on camera. He was a crook, but we would have saved him if we could. All of this because Tempest puts the man on edge and drove him to his point. Lives were lost, but we have the proof now to put Mizuki away for life." Anko nodded, turning back to the camera.

"That is if we have someone to put away. Full disclosure Ibiki… Anything happens to Iruka here… Mizuki is dead." He looked over to her, knowing she wasn't joking. It was a promise. Suddenly, the there was static in their headset's as another voice chimed in.

"Ah, finally! That took way too long!" They both looked around, in wide alert. "Calm down, I'm an ally." The distorted voice laughed a little, making them both frown.

"That voice is too deep for Tempest. Who is this?" Ibiki spat, opening the door to the police van, looking around.

"You can stop looking Ibiki. I'm pretty well hidden. Name is Kabuki. Another vigilante here in your city. I'm currently with Blue Beast, another loyal citizen." Ibiki groaned slightly, making Anko roll her eyes. Two more vigilantes in the city?

"We are a part of Team Tempest and are to provide backup. We do not want any casualties either!" A younger voice, still distorted, spoke on the comms.

"What he said. I'm currently monitoring the situation. We are near the top of the warehouse, ready to drop in. If we coordinate this well enough, we can get the jump on them. I can try and patch Tempest through so he knows the plan, but we can't expect him to speak in Mizuki's presence. I'd also prefer if Blue Beast, Tempest and myself aren't shot." The voice chuckled slightly, making Ibiki groan, but nod to Anko, who rose a walkie to mouth.

"Agreed. I'm having Mitarashi direct our S.W.A.T. forces currently. They are positioned by the south entrance and the east entrance."

"Good. Beast and I are near the North side. Iruka is near the west section of the warehouse. Tempest, try and get to that front and we can get all sections covered. We need Ayame out of harm's way before anything can be done though." A collective nod was shared between the three parties, and the Ibiki pulled out his handgun, looking at Anko.

"Let's do this."

* * *

"Already here? Tempest, you must have been trying to break your record on the mile! All for naught though!" He lowered himself, his knife pointing at Iruka's neck. Tempest tightened, his stance ready for anything. Next to him, Ayame shuffled the chair towards him, the chains facing him.

"Mind freeing me, captain? I'm not exactly comfortable here!" Not looking at her, he swung his hand down in a chop motion, the wind slicing through the chains. With a glare, she rose up, rubbing her wrists, careful not to mess up her already damaged bandages.

"Why is it you can only do your cool powers when you're pissed? Like. Do them all the time." He suppressed the urge to glare at her, his eyes fixed on Mizuki and Iruka.

"Don't do this Mizuki. You won't come out of this winning." Mizuki smirked, the men now rising and swarming Ayame and Tempest. She looked around, worry in her face at seeing the knifes and steel pipes near them.

"This isn't looking too good Temp." She muttered, as he also looked around. As soon as his eyes left Mizuki, the man's smile intensified, and he rose the knife further from Iruka, trying to gain momentum.

"Fool!" As he shouted, Tempest looked back to Mizuki, wind at his feet and ready to fly towards him.

"NOW!" As Tempest shouted, multiple things happened at once. Ayame roared with determination, her eyes glowing gold, as well as her hand, which was held up and facing Tempest, whose own body glowed gold. The doors to the south and the east sides of the warehouse blew off the hinges, sheet metal flying around. From the North side, The roof caved in, Kabuki covered in a swirl of wind and shooting it off towards the thugs, Blue Beast behind him with his foot extended for a flying kick.

In an instant, Naruto was near Mizuki, surprising both of them, Naruto at the speed he's flew, and Mizuki at how fast Tempest arrived, even with his time powers. Mizuki's knife descended towards Iruka's neck, a slashing motion ready to slice his neck open. Tempest was able to push forward, knocking Iruka's chair backwards. Unfortunately, the quick momentum sent Iruka's face forward, just in the path of the knife, leaving him with a light slash across the bridge of his nose. With a clatter, the chair smashed and the chains snapped. Rising up, Tempest quickly shot backwards to avoid the slash from Mizuki.

"Always ruining my plans! Why can't you just die, you cockroach?" As Mizuki shouted, the rest of his thugs started to reach for their weapons. Ayame, seeing the group of police with rifles, as well as the multitude of Mizuki thugs with weapons, dropped to the floor and tried to scamper away, dodging the bullets.

From their position, Lee kicked a man in the face and knocking him unconscious, while Jiraiya wind blast knocked a dozen or so men on their backside. Seeing Ayame free, Kabuki went for his headset before dashing towards her.

"Ayame secure!" On her in an instant, Kabuki took her in his arms and rushed towards their entrance, flying upwards. Noticing the departure, Lee rushed towards Iruka, taking him in his arms and ran past the officers on the east side.

"Iruka secure!" With both hostages clear, a bloodbath started, the S.W.A.T. officers unloading on the thugs, the thugs firing back.

Tempest and Mizuki looked at the bullets, Mizuki taking the advantage to run. Naruto growled and speed up his run, using the wind to chase after Mizuki. Using his own time powers, Mizuki was able to stay out of his grasp until they were outside the warehouse, near the docks and the water.

"It's over Mizuki!" Tempest shouted, glaring at Mizuki, who has nowhere else to run to. Very few lights were still active in the dock, leaving an ominous tone to the dock. Cracking his neck, Mizuki rose to a fighting stance.

"Let's get this done then boy."

* * *

"Everyone but Mizuki is secure." A S.W.A.T. leader told Anko and Ibiki, them both looking in disgust at the floor. Most of the Tsubaki Gang survived, all groaning with bullet holes in their arms or legs, but otherwise fine. A good chunk of them, however, were not as lucky and laid on the floor in puddles. Same for the SWAT teams. While most were okay thanks to their heavy padding, there were a few officers that weren't going to make it.

"Jesus. It's bad in here. We need to find Mizuki though. Anyone have eyes on him?" There was a collective shake of heads, and Ibiki frowned. Anko sighed, looking around for Iruka and Ayame.

"Anyone see Iruka or Ayame?"

* * *

"Holy shit!" Ayame yelled, laying down in the backseat of Jiraiya's car. She was cut up, but otherwise looking fine. In the front seat, Lee and Jiraiya had tired expressions.

"Ayame, what was that earlier? It looked like you were glowing gold?" Lee asked in curiosity, looking over at her. From the other seat, Jiraiya smiled while Ayame rose up and shrugged.

"Uh not sure? I recently found out I was probably a mutant. Haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet about it. Was kind of kidnapped twice."

"But what was it? It felt like Naruto was faster than ever. Was it like a telekinetic throw or something?" Jiraiya started to chuckled now, gaining the attention of both the teens now.

"It was amplification Lee. It looks like Ayame's power is to amplify other people's powers. It looks like whoever she sends that gold hue too, their power increases. Not sure by how much, but it looked like Naruto was about twice as fast."

"I guess so. That's what it felt like. I also kind of felt stronger. But yeah, I think that's what happened." Lee looked in amazement, a small frown threatening his face. He was glad Ayame had a cool power like Naruto, but he couldn't help but feel slight sadness. As of this moment, he was the only none-powered person in Team Tempest.

"That's great Ayame. For now, we are getting you to the hospital, and after that, we are going back to support Naruto against Mizuki." Ayame opened her mouth to protest, but a sharp glare from Jiraiya in the rearview mirror shut her up.

"Sounds like a plan…"

* * *

"Grah!" Mizuki shouted in anger as a fist connected with his face, knocking him back a few feet. Another fist went towards him, but he side-stepped it and sent a left hook, connecting with Tempest's face. Stumbling back, Tempest growled and glared at the man, his half-mask starting to have tears in it.

"I can go all night, Tempest! Let's go!" He growled again and zoomed forward, sending a wind enhanced punch towards his face. Slowing time, Mizuki went under the punch and sent a hard fist into the side of Naruto's body. He exclaimed in pain, a small amount of blood shooting out into his half-mask. Before he could recover, Mizuki sent two quick punches to his chest and a third hook across his face.

Falling to the ground, Naruto landed on his front, vomiting blood through his mask now. He turned over to face Mizuki, his hood now fallen and showing his blond hair. Thankfully, Mizuki was too focused on killing the hero, and instead went to kick him from the ground, rather than take note of his hair color.

"I thought you were a hero, Tempest!" He shouted with another kick. "You were supposed to stop _ME,_ huh?" Another kick. "A weak!" Kick. "Empty!" Kick. "PROMISE!" With a final kick, he sent Tempest flying towards the docks edge, his body skidding against it. Rising up, Tempest was shaking heavily, his body feeling the blows heavily. Trying to ignore the pain, he rushed towards Mizuki, almost falling as he did. He went for the man's face, but was met with a blow to his chin, sending him backwards again.

This time, he held himself up, desperately keepings himself from falling.

"You won't win… You bastard." He spat, keeping himself straightened. Unlike before, his eyes now had a small tint to them, one that could be seen as golden. He refused to give up. He would NOT let this man win. Mizuki let out another growl and went for a punch to his face, only it was much slower this time.

Stepping back, Naruto counter with his own punch, wind enhancing it and sending it into his stomach. He let out a massive groan, blood shooting out of his mouth as he keeled over. He looked up to glare at Tempest. Still holding his stomach with one hand, he went to punch the hero, who dodged and released another devastating wind punch to his face. Mizuki roared in anger, blood dripping from his mouth and jumped upwards, smacking Naruto with the top of his head, sending the hero several feet back. Still clutching his stomach, he charged him and punched his face, Naruto sending his own punch back.

Both men were in tattered, trading ever weakening blows with one another. After a few minutes of fighting, Naruto fell to the ground, the gold fading in his eyes. Mizuki stood over him, battered, bloody and wheezing.

"I win… Brat." He flipped open a pocket knife from earlier, going down towards Naruto ready to stab him.

BANG

"Grah!" Mizuki shouted and leaned back, a hole in his hand and the knife clattering to the floor. Looking across the dock, Iruka stood with his handgun aimed at Mizuki, the slice across his face dripping blood and a scowl on his face.

"Not today. You're under arrest Mizuki." He glared at the officer and Naruto decided to use this opportunity to his advantage.

' _Concentrate. You can do this!'_ He shouted in his mind, imagining a tornado swirling. Around his fist, wind started to gather and rotate quickly, quickly generating enough motion to swirl like a mini tornado. Mizuki finally looked down, but was too late, as the blond was already sending his wind-enhanced fist towards the man's face.

" **Corkscrew Punch**!" Naruto shouted, sending the spiraling fist into his fast, which dug in like a drill. Slicing his face open slightly, Mizuki was suddenly hit with the force and sent flying backwards, spinning the entire way until he crashed into the side of a warehouse.

"Buh." Mizuki muttered, his vision going black and losing consciousness. Near the dock, Naruto was panting, breathing heavily. Iruka looked towards him, smiling as he put his gun away.

"Nice hit Tempest. We finally got him." He looked around then turned back to Tempest, gesturing to his mask. He touched his face, noticing the mask barely hanging on and barely covering his birthmarks. In worry, he quickly pulled his hoodie up and covered his face, sweat drops forming.

"Get out of here. We got it from here." Iruka turned to walk towards Mizuki, but suddenly stopped, smiling at the man. "And thanks for saving me." Tempest nodded, rushing off as the other cops arrived. Anko came forward, glad Iruka was alive.

"Yeah, Tempest got him. We finally got him Anko." Anko smiled and pulled Iruka into an emotional hug, glad he was alive. Iruka looked towards the night sky, a smile still on his face.

* * *

"Ugh." Naruto muttered, holding an icepack to his jaw. He was currently laying on the floor of Jiraiya's condo, nursing his wounds. "That guy hurt. A lot." He mumbled, placing the icepack off of his face and looked up to see his friends; Jiraiya, with minor scuff markings on his clothing and a proud smile on his face; Lee, with more markings then Jiraiya, but a worried look on his face. He was hoping Naruto healed quickly. And finally there was Ayame, still wearing all her bruises and markings from her earlier fights with Mizuki, but she wore a defiant smirk on her face.

"I'm so glad you kicked that bastards ass!" She was pumped, trying to flex her bandaged arm. Naruto gave her a small smile back, struggling to rise from his position. "Whoa whoa!" She started, gesturing for him to stop with wide eyes.

"Shut up." He laughed, standing fully and pulling her into a hug, shocking her slightly. "I'm just glad you're okay." Ayame tried to laugh, and make a sarcastic comment like she would always do, but the tight embrace of Naruto, as well as the traumatic events of the night, her eyes couldn't help but water as she hugged the boy back. Lee and Jiraiya gave each other a look before smiling slightly.

"I-I-I," She stuttered, her body starting to shake with her emotions. "I don't want to be the damsel in distress anymore!" She spoke, almost shouting it out to everyone. Breaking off the hug from Naruto, all three were able to see the tear starting to flow down her eyes. "I was taken twice and did nothing but cause trouble!"

"And that won't happen again." She looked at Jiraiya with her reddening eyes, as did the other two students of the old man. "With Mizuki gone, the police should be able to regulate lots of the crime he caused. The city won't need us right away. Gives us the perfect excuse to train the days away." Naruto groaned at the notion, his body already feeling tired, while Lee smirked and Ayame clenched her fist.

"And we will get strong. We won't have to worry about this anymore. Especially with these new powers, I'll gladly fight alongside you all!" Naruto looked around in confusion, directing his attention to Jiraiya.

"Powers?" The older man gave him a look and shook his head, which plainly said, 'Another time.' Naruto shrugged it off before raising a fist, almost fist pumping with Ayame.

"Let's get stronger together and protect this town." Lee nodded, rising up and placing his fist against theirs.

"Yosh, we shall burn bright and show the villains of Konoha that this is not their city for the taking!" All three looked towards Jiraiya, who laughed before placing his fist against the other three, a smirk lasting on his face.

"To the heroes of Konoha, who will keep this city safe." Suddenly, they all jerked their hands up, lee yelling another celebratory 'yosh', while everyone laughed again.

* * *

"You think you can contain me? Don't make me laugh, I'll be out by lunch tomorrow!" Mizuki laughed, glaring daggers at Anko, who rolled her eyes as the bars slide across, locking Mizuki into his cell.

"You have a point. I think we will be fine though. Gen pop has all heard about the people you betrayed. Sure, the crowd would love revenge. Then when you are free you can just answer to the Purple Snake for your mistakes. That'll go well." Mizuki's eyes widened slightly, and he started to look around in fright. Anko winked at him before walking off, the scream of the former crime lord being music to her ears.

"You enjoyed that." Iruka said with a smile, a bandage wrapped around his face where Mizuki has slashed him. "Don't blame you on that." She scoffed, scooting past him and sitting at her desk with a smirk.

"Can't say anyone would blame you. He hurt your pretty little face." Iruka rolled his eyes, still maintaining his slight smirk. Before the conversation could continue, Ibiki Morino walked up, his eyes having slight black bags under them.

"Detectives." They nodded to him, and he placed a paper down at the desk in front of Anko.

"Genma has already been processed. But it's time we have to deal with Mizuki's other men." Her look darkened, already knowing where this was going.

"Are you asking me to interrogate him? I don't really know what that's going to accomplish." Ibiki and Iruak shared a look, both knowing Anko's attitude to the whole situation. With the reveal of Aoba and Genma as informants for Mizuki, multiple officers were also brought down, as well as another well-known detective.

"Anko, if anyone is to find out why he was working for Mizuki, you would be the best person." She sighed at Iruka's words, rising from the desk and walking away from them.

"Whatever. I'll talk to him." She yelled out, not bothering to look back. She couldn't be cared about this. With his downfall, things should be better for her, so why would she care? It didn't make sense for her to be this upset, but she wished she could just ignore it and go on with her life. Opening the door to the interrogation room, she let out a sigh, unable to stop her glare. From the seat, she was greeted with a calm smile, as well as the happy emotions coming from a pair of onyx eyes.

"Good morning, Anko. I take it you are my officer, huh?" She barely swallowed the growl as she stepped into the room, refusing to sit at the table.

"Hello Shisui."

* * *

A man placed a folder down, looking at the suits in front of him with a smirk. Like them, he was wearing a similar suit, the only exception being his red tie. He had wavy black hair that hung to his sides, and framed his face, going down just under his chin.

"And let that be my first case. The case of Mizuki Tsubaki vs. the people of Konoha City. Even the police themselves were corrupt and worked for Mizuki, but Konoha's hero, Tempest, did not." He smirked, speaking in a civilized manor, looking around at the people in front of him.

"Be that as it may, they also have issues with authority, if you recall what happened next in Konoha City." He nodded, holding up a finger and grabbing another orange folder.

"Of course and I agree with you." He looked at a certain member of the council in front of him, a shine in his golden hazel eyes.

"Let's talk about what happened next then, shall we?"

* * *

 **And with that, we have reached the end of the Mizuki arc of this story and are halfway through the first season of Tempest. Honestly, I'm very glad for this too. This entire time was such a drag. Mizuki was not a fun arc to write and I'm so glad it's over.**

 **Regardless, the next arc I've been anticipating for awhile. It will cover the Wave arc and should be a good spin on it.**

 **Another warning shall be this also; This next arc may contain some triggering scenes. We all know Naruto characters had some tragic backstories, so just be expecting modern versions of tragic backstories in this story.**

 **Anyway, I'll try and update as fast as I can, but you know how it be sometimes.**

 **Enjoy and I'll see you all next time. R &R y'all!**

 **Keep on Shining!**


	12. Episode 12: The Butcher Rises

**For reference, since this is a modern AU take on the Naruto world, I made them use Yen instead of Ryo.**

* * *

 **Update Notes:**

 **I've had these chapters written for quite some time, I just haven't had a chance to upload. Life is still a bit of a bitch at the moment. Anyway, we are at the start of a new arc. This will be the start of the Wave arc, and I've been excited for it, to be honest. Either way, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

…

* * *

A man gave a large scowl as he was pushed to the side, another man running and screaming, his eyes wide. He wanted to tell the man who pushed him off, not liking the fact he was pushed and brushed off, but there was no point. It was late and he just wanted to get home. On the other side of the coin, the screaming man continued to run, his breathing labored.

Life had always been hard in Kiri City for Morihiro Oda. The city already wasn't the best, and he was subjected to the life of crime quite quickly, forcing himself to do whatever he could to make a quick buck, even if it meant mugging innocent people. But Morihiro never once imagined his work in crime would led him to being chased by a crazed lunatic at 11 PM around the dark misty nights of Kiri City.

"I have to hide… Oh man." He wheezed out, fear in his voice as he looked around the alley he was currently holed in, the faint fog obscuring his vision slightly. With a slight huff, he started to shuffle to his left, seeing several boxes and the entrance to a warehouse.

The inside was quite dirty, and eerily silent. He scurried through the warehouse, looking around at the towers of boxes and construction equipment. He hid between the boxes, looking around and noticing the air was clear. After his quick glance, he went for his phone, dialing the number of his boss. After a few rings, there was a distinct click, showing that the other end answered.

"Hello?" The boss spoke into the receiver, making Morihiro beam slightly, grateful that his boss answered.

"Boss, ya gotta help me out! I'm near the warehouse districts and that mad mans all over me!" He began in a whisper yell, his anxiety starting to spike as he suddenly heard a distinct bang somewhere in front of him; the sound of metal-on-metal. "I think he's here…" He whispered, his fear starting to spike once more, making his breathing hard. There was another screech of metal, almost as if it was being sliced apart. What mostly freaking Morihiro out was the fact it was in a completely different direction, making him look in fear. He lowered the phone, trying to keep an eye on everything, ignoring his boss' voice over the phone.

"Hello?" He started to question, walking out of his cover as the mist started to cover up the warehouse. Before he could question it, he quickly felt a hand on his shoulder, making him freeze in fear. He attempted to turn his head back, but he quickly felt a piercing pain in his chest, looking down to see a large cleaver-like blade taking up over half of his chest.

"Grahahrhaha!" He gurgled out in a scream as he was lifted off his feet, dangling in the air and sliding down the blade slowly, more and more blood starting to spurt out. His hands quickly gave out, dropping the phone to a dull thud, shattering the screen. Another person walked forward, picking up the phone and looked at it, seeing it was still in call. They gestured and held the phone up to the swordsman, who was miraculously holding up the nearly dead man with one arm. He chuckled into the receiver, speaking in a raspy voice.

"Little Mori can't come to the phone right now. Take a message." He chuckled again, dropping the phone and quickly stomping down, destroying the phone. "Thanks for wasting my time Morihiro. We had a bus to catch and you made us late." The man continued to gurgle, his head twitching as he tried to look back at his attacker; he was able to get a small glance of a black vest, as well as a man with a bandages wrapped around his mouth, a black headband on his head, holding back his small spikey black hair. "Worm." He saw the wraps move, but didn't register as the man tilted his hand, turning the blade inside Morihiro, making him scream out, it muffled by the blood in his mouth. With a quick flick, the blade slammed into the ground from the left, effectively silencing and bisecting Morihiro. With a wet thud, the man sighed and lifted the blade, placing it on his shoulder.

"Alright, I had my fun." The man looked over at the assailant next to him, a man with a white mask with very narrow eye-slits, wearing a yellowish kimono, with a green haori over it. The new man simply nodded at the swordsman, who started to walk off. "Alright Haku, let's go." He stood at the warehouse, gesturing for the man to follow him. Haku glanced at the corpse at his feet, saying nothing. After a few seconds, he walked towards the man, showing no emotion. Standing at the warehouse entrance, staring off into the mist, the duo started to walk forward.

"Time to head to Konoha City."

* * *

 **Tempest: Season 1, Episode 12: The Butcher Rises**

* * *

"It has been two months since the capture of Mizuki Tsubaki and the arrest of the majority of his criminal syndicate, which has made some lasting effects on our streets." The reporter in the news gave off a smile, the graphic displaying a graph with the arrow pointing downwards. "It seems with our new hero Tempest, the fear in criminal behavior has risen, which is making the criminal acts drop." She gestured upwards as she spoke, before her hand crashing down to the table as she spoke about the criminal rate dropping. Next to her, another reporter laughed, slapping the table slightly.

"I'll sure say. He's a great guy too. I saw him flying around one time on my way to work, super nice person." The reporters continued to make small conversation, basically talking about how crime has dropped massively since Tempest's appearance and the Tsubaki Gang's disappearance. Besides this, the local populations view of Tempest increased, everyone starting to love and approve of the man; of course, there were the ones that despised him still, but they were far and few in between.

Basically, life in Konoha City had gotten a lot better.

…For the most part.

* * *

"Alright guys, make sure you study hard, this test is not going to be easy at all; I'm talking to you Shikamaru!" Shizune shouted over the sound of the school bell ringing, and the sounds off all the teens shuffling to get their bags and get ready for their after-school activities. Shikamaru gave a slight groan at his teacher's words, making several other students laugh. Eventually, all the students cleared out, but one remained, which confused Shizune a little.

"Naruto? Why are you still here?" She walked over to his desk, all his books still out and he was busy writing into his notebook, determination on his face. "Don't you have to get to work?" He laughed slightly, looking up from the book to see the confused look in Shizune's eyes.

"I'm a little behind Sissy and now that I have some more free time, I need to study more." He did still go out as Tempest, but he didn't need to go out as frequently these days; the aftermath of Mizuki's capture sparked something in the criminals, so for that first week he was busy with the police, capturing all the rebels. But after that initial burst, the criminals started to die down, back to the level that the police could handle.

"You sure have been taking your studies a lot more seriously these days." She was glad he was studying a lot and actually turning in lots of schoolwork (schoolwork that she actually could give A's to), but it was a little concerning with the sudden change in his demeanor these last few months. "I asked before, but is there any university you were looking towards? I'm just hoping you're not studying here, going to cram school and overloading yourself with work." Last time she had asked, he didn't have an answer, but he had thought about it already, wondering what he would do and if he actually even had time to study in college.

"Just Konoha University, I guess?" He shrugged slightly, placing his pencil down and crossing his arms, looking towards the ceiling in thought. "I'm not entirely sure what I want to end up doing yet, but I know I want to go to college. Konoha University is probably the best bet for me anyway." She nodded, turning back to collect her own supplies to get ready to leave.

"That's good! It'll be a bit of a challenge getting into that university, but with how much you've been working, I wouldn't be surprised if you get in easily! I'll let you stay a little late today, just don't stay in here too late. They do need to lock the school up, you know?" She smiled at him and headed towards the door, her bag on her shoulder and a jacket on her arm. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto!" He waved to his teacher, going back to his papers as the door closed. With a sigh, he started to write down more, a small smile on his face. Things were going better now with Mizuki gone.

* * *

"Is there a reason why you dragged me all the way out here in the dead of the ghetto?" Jiraiya muttered from underneath his umbrella, the pouring rain surrounding him and Ayame Ichiraku. She was beaming next to Jiraiya, her cuts and bruises healed up almost completely.

"We can't just stay in your condo and operate from there. Kinda not what we'd like as a full-blown operation." He scoffed slightly, looking around at the area around him. Most of Konoha City was thriving and not facing much criminal activity, except for this area of the city. It was the center of lots of criminal activity and they were currently standing at an abandoned warehouse, one with multiple cracks and tears in the building.

"Wasn't aware we were gonna keep going on with this. Thought once Mizuki was gone and you were all healed up, I'd be splitsville." She rolled her eyes, stepping forward to the warehouse, her feet splashing in the puddles.

"Yeah right, bud. You know we would all fall apart without you. I already checked it out, but come take a gander." Jiraiya couldn't help the small smile that showed on his face at her words, but shook it off slightly before walking towards the door. She opened it and the door creaked, almost falling off its hinges.

"Yeah, you sure picked a charmer here. You sure we aren't going to get stabbed here?" She rolled her eyes, walking forward and bending down to enter the warehouse.

"It's cleared out. A lot of the homeless tend to ignore this specific building because of all the hazards. I think a few men died in here by tripping so wires or something. Basically, it's a bit dangerous, but I think we can clear it out. I also didn't want to set up shop on this main floor." She gestured forward, them both looking around at the dusty workshop, old machine and rusted stairs all over the building. "There's a basement level. Can set up what we have. Make like… A command center or something. Me and Lee can monitor everything whenever Naruto or you are flying around. We might need to get better things than Bluetooth headphones for calls though. Doesn't seem efficient. We can also working on upgrading everyone's suit, possible getting me a suit also. Oh! We can also…" She continued to ramble forward, making Jiraiya tone her out, stepping towards the stairs to the basement. She pouted slightly, but followed the elderly man, making sure to shut her umbrella before tossing it to the ground in a huff.

"This doesn't," He looked down the stairs to the basement, seeing pitch black and rusty stairs, almost seeming to hang loosely onto the wall. "Seem to safe, Ayame. It looks like we can fall and die just walking down there!" She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and giving him an annoyed look.

"Okay, did I check out the basement? Okay, no I didn't. But that's not going to stop us. We all have powers, remember?" She smirked at the man, making him roll his eyes at her.

The month following the Mizuki bust, Ayame spent multiple nights trying to realize her powers and activate them. There was no luck until Naruto tried to send a blast of wind out of his palm; the recoil made him trip into Ayame, and his wind attack immediately doubled in size, leading them to learn of Ayame's power, Power Amplification. Not with her own powers, but she could double the powers of other peoples abilities, such as Jiraiya's sealing or Naruto's wind.

"Ayame, we don't, remember that." She frowned slightly, remembering the day a few weeks back. With her powers now in full swing, Lee couldn't help but feel left out, the only normal human in the group. He refused to admit it, but he felt weaker than everyone else on Team Tempest. They've tried to cheer him up multiple times, but nothing ever seemed to work.

"Sorry, I spaced it." She shook her head, expelling the bad thoughts. "That doesn't matter though! Let's just gust it around and go in with a lamp or something." Jiraiya snorted in annoyance but rose his hand and listened to the girl. The wind started swirling around his hand and she placed a hand on his bicep, her hand glowing gold slightly and the wind getting stronger. Within a few seconds, he released the large gust, causing a large clatter, objects flying around all.

"Alright, lets check this out. Be careful down there though." Jiraiya started before jumping down, ignoring the rusty stairs. "By the way, how did you afford this place?" Ayame gave a confused look as she descended down towards the man.

"We have to pay for an abandoned building?"

* * *

There was a door slamming inside the Inuzuka household, startling everyone at the dinner table. Tsume Inuzuka let out a growl and looked at her daughter Hana.

"I swear if that mongrel finally decided to come home." She spoke with a hiss, rising from the chair, making sure to leave her food at the table. "Hey! Kiba is that you?" She shouted, walking towards the house's man hall. As her mother left, Hana let out a small sigh.

Kiba went missing around 2 months ago, seemingly vanishing in the middle of the entire Mizuki debacle. With the recent death of their father, and Tsume taking more hours at the police station, Kiba disappearing was all they needed. While Hana was more worried about her brother's disappearance, Tsume chalked it up to being nothing more stress from all the recent events.

He arrived back at the house a few weeks back, but he seemed… different. Angrier. It honestly scared Hana, but her mother simply traced it back to the boy acting out after his father's death. But that wasn't an excuse for the Inuzuka matriarch.

"Boy, I am speaking to you!" Tsume growled, walking out the hall just in time to see Kiba heading up the stairs, his back facing her. "Where the hell have you been?" She snarled out, her eyes narrow and arms crossed. Kiba let out a sharp breath, turning his head to look at his mother.

Unlike before, Kiba seemed much more wild and unkept. His hair was longer from lack of haircuts and his nails seemed to be much longer. He also held what looked like a red glint in his eye, as well as almost fang like teeth.

"None of your damn business." He stated simply, turning his head back and starting to head up the stairs. Tsume was stunned, but only for a moment; her surprised expression quickly morphed into one of pure rage and she rushed forward, stomping up the few steps and clenching her sons wrist, preventing him from going forward.

"Now I know you didn't just talk to me like that. Everything you do is my damn business, is that understood, boy?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared down the back of the boys head. It turned slightly again, his own eyes boiling in rage.

"What I do with my own free time," he started, his voice rising in volume. "Is none of your concern!" He quickly yanked his hand back, releasing himself from his mother's grip, making her flinch from the sudden pain.

Watching in the hallway, Hana wore a shocked expression, not understanding what was going on with her little brother. Sure, he was always a bit of a cocky jerk, but he was never outright mean, especially to his own mother. Like Hana, Tsume was in stunned silence, never having thought her son would break from her grip. Yeah, she realized her son was a strong individual, but Tsume was no slouch either; there was actually contests at the station for arm wrestling, with Tsume being the most consistent leader.

"What did-" She began, but was caught off as Kiba turned fully towards her, his clothes covered in dirt and what seemed like leaves. With a small huff, he pushed past her, almost knocking her off her balance and too the floor.

"I'm going to the gym." He muttered, defiantly walking past his sister as well, them making brief eye contact. Hana couldn't help but shake slightly. Her brother wasn't like this. He was either hanging with the wrong crowd or something seriously bad happened to him. She was shocked back into reality with a loud slam of the door, it seeming to shake the house.

A few seconds passed in silence before Hana rushed for her coat, ready to follow the boy to the gym, or wherever the hell he was going. Before she could leave, the small laugh of Tsume stopped her.

"Don't bother. He's going to work out his shit and he'll be back later. The brat will be fine." She moved from the stairs towards the kitchen, the sounds of glass clinking. "Trust me." Tsume was pouring herself a drink, ready to turn in for the night already. Hana frowned, still itching to go out, but she knew better than to go against her mother. Besides, she had a feeling Tsume was right; despite his aggressive behavior, Kiba was still Kiba. He would return home soon and hopefully, he will have gotten whatever is bothering him out of his system.

In the nearby woods, Kiba was growling walking through the darkness towards the city lights. With a final huff, he clenched his fists glaring forward, his eyes turning to slits and beaming a blood red. He was suddenly shrouded in a bright purple light, it engulfing his entire body. Once it ended, his clothes dropped to the floor, a large grey wolf taking his place, a snarl on its face. With one huff, the wolf suddenly rushed forward, much faster than anything else living in these woods.

* * *

"Sakura, please, I'm dying!" Ino shouted, her drained form barely clinging to the treadmill, the handles being the only thing from keeping her from flying off. Next to her, Sakura was breathing heavily but jogging at a steady pace, her eyes determined.

Ever since the incident with her attackers, Sakura felt determined to make sure it never happened again. She immediately enrolled herself at the Konohagakure Spring Dojo, one of the more cheaper gyms that was close to her house. Not wanting to be alone, Ino eventually decided to join, figuring she could use the boost in her physique. Unlike Sakura, however, she didn't take it anywhere near as serious and used it to mostly make sure she burned the calories from hitting a little extra in the day.

"Sakura, please, my legs are jello and I'm gonna die!" She shouted with a whine, almost sliding off the treadmill in a comical fashion. With a groan, Sakura pulled the plug from her treadmill and started walking towards a stop.

"We can take a break, but we gotta get back to it Ino!" She stepped towards her bag, taking a large gulp of water, trying to get her hydration.

Sakura started going to the gym almost immediately after the capture of Mizuki. At first it was stressful for her, being surrounded by so many men, but she was very grateful for Ino's help. She had gotten better with them, as it was mostly regulars that came to the gym, so they all knew her by now. She also decided long hair was an annoyance and had since cut her hair, her once long pink locks dropping around her lower back now hung idly above her neck.

"I'm going to go die in the sauna, if that's okay with you." Sakura rolled her eyes at the girl, but shrugged it off, letting her limp towards the sauna. At the same moment, Sakura noticed Naruto and Lee entire the gym, a smile on both of their faces as they chatted. Naruto glanced over and caught a glimpse of Sakura and waved, the pinkette smirking and giving a small wave back.

Ever since coming, she quickly learned that Naruto was a regular and it explained his change in physique lately; it wasn't as if he was overweight before, but his body was much more noticeably toned now. She also remembered meeting Lee the first time, the guy that Naruto said helped him a lot. She was a little worried about Lee at first, the concept of meeting some new guy, but the fear went away quickly. While Lee was a strong individual, he was a genuinely nice person and always seemed willing to answer any fitness questions she happened to have.

"How are you guys doing?" She walked towards them, making sure her bag was in hand. Naruto placed his one on floor, stretching one of his arms over his chest, a smirk on his face.

"Feeling good actually! Just finished studying for our exam tomorrow and decided to get some relaxation out of the way. Maybe get a spar with Lee going or something." He smirked at the bowl-headed boy next to him, who chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

"Be careful who you challenge Naruto. As for me, I am quite fine. Nothing really to major is happening at University, so I suggested to Naruto about working out." Sakura snorted slightly, placing her hands on her hips. Unlike her normal attire, Sakura was looking for effectiveness. This resulted In her wearing a bear of black leggings that ended just below her knees, as well as a tight black undershirt, a grey shirt over it.

"Yeah you? Working out for fun? Never would have guessed." Lee gave the girl a look, but Naruto started to snicker at the man. She turned to Naruto now, a challenging look on her face. "And you? Wanting to challenge Lee in a spar? Come on Naruto, that's just a bad time for you." His face fumed slightly in a red tone, both from anger and embarrassment. Now it was Lee's turn to snicker at his friend, making him turn in anger.

"Nah, let's go then Bushy Brows! I'll show Sakura I can wipe the floor with you!" Lee stopped laughing and gave a look to his friend, the determination in his eyes making him smile. With a small nod, Lee turned to get permission to use the sparring circle. Naruto turned back to Sakura, a smile etched on his face and he started to flex his arm. "I'll show you how strong I've gotten Sakura!" She rolled her eyes, but kept her playful smirk on.

While it was true she had never seen Naruto spar at the gym, she also heard the rumors about Rock Lee, the strongest person in Konoha. At least that's what she was told by multiple gym patrons. At the end of the day, he was still a 19-year-old kid, so she was sure there were multiple people in this large city stronger than the boy. Especially the vigilantes, Blue Beast and Tempest.

Her face turned to a frown slightly, thinking about them. With crime dropping, they started to appear less and less, not really having a reason to show up. She was still determined to find them and ask about training, but she didn't know where to start. She took Ayame's advice about the gym, but that didn't bear any fruit for her yet.

"Yosh, Naruto! Are you ready?" Sakura and Naruto suddenly looked over to Lee, standing in the middle of the sparring arena, a smile on his face. With a smirk, Naruto rushed towards the arena, a hop in his step. Near them, Sakura started to walk over, excited to finally see the 'great' Rock Lee in action.

* * *

Naruto and Lee stood next to each other, placing the MMA gloves on their hand. This was the gym after all, and while they could battle with nothing, it would lead to them getting kicked out immediately, so they had to obey the safety rules. Naruto was in his normal orange shorts, black tights under them with no shoes on. Above that, he was wearing a short sleeve orange hoodie, another black undershirt under that, as well as his signature orange MMA gloves. On the other side, Lee was wearing blue shorts, green tights under those. Unlike Naruto, he simply wore a green short sleeve, with nothing under it, as well as a pair of green gloves.

"Alright Lee, remember we can't go full on here." The reminder Naruto whispered was mostly to Naruto himself, as he had the power to increase his damage with his powers and move faster with them, but Lee didn't have that luxury. The note made him slightly upset, but he didn't let him see it on his face; Naruto might have to hold back, but Lee was 100% human. He didn't need to hold back at all.

The duo stepped away from each other, advancing to opposite edges of the circle before turning to face each other, both getting in their stances. Naruto stood with his body facing away from Lee at a 90 degree angle, legs bent, as well as his arms, one behind him and one forward, open palms instead of fists at the ready. On the other side, Lee faced Naruto with his legs bent, one arm folded behind him, resting on his back, while the other was bent at a point, directly aimed at Naruto.

Next to Sakura, one of the spectators gasped, and nudged her friends shoulder. Confused, Sakura decided to eavesdrop a little.

"Look at Lee's stance. You think this is gonna be good?" She turned her head towards the duo, a tilt to her head. She recognized them as regulars, but failed to know their name.

"What about Lee's stance? Is it not correct?" She asked, genuinely curious if there was something wrong with it. The girl scoffed, crossing her arms, not bothering to look at her, but instead focusing on the match.

"Nah, it's perfect! Which is something Lee does if he has to focus. Usually its more laxed and open, because he doesn't have to try as hard. I guess that Naruto has been getting better, huh?" Sakura nodded, letting out a small 'huh'. She turned back to the match, both boys getting ready to face one another. She smiled a little, wondering just how well Naruto would fare if Lee was going to take him seriously. Between the two, an employee looked between the two, an eager look on his face. Raising his arm, he suddenly dropped it and jumped back.

"Match start!"

* * *

As soon as the hand dropped, Naruto rushed towards Lee, wanting to get the upper hand on the martial arts expert. Reaching Lee, he sent his right palm forward, ready to palm strike the mans chest, but he easily sidestepped. With Lee now on his left, the bowl-headed man changed his point strike to a karate chop, aiming it above the strike Naruto sent, right towards his neck. Almost instantly, Naruto's other hand rose to block the chop, his other hand turning to a fist and swinging sideways, hoping to get Lee's face. With a quick slide of his feet, he was able to pull from the mans grip and dodging the side fist, a smile on both of their faces.

With the initial burst over, they both rushed forward, a flurry from strikes leaving both of their hands and feet. Everyone was able to follow their movement, but they both were so fluid and precise in their attacks that it was a wonder to watch two opponents process so fast. From the sidelines, Sakura's jaw was left hanging, utterly surprised, not only at Lee's skill, but the fact that Naruto was able to keep up with him. Was this the results from Naruto's training with Lee? Before she could ponder more on this, she was pulled out of her thoughts by Ino.

"Holy crap socks." Ino stood next to Sakura, a towel on her shoulders and her arms at her sides. Like Sakura, she had heard about Lee before, but never fully saw him in action. Also, she was starting to develop a crush on Naruto, thanks mostly to his new physique, and to see him able to fight so well was certainly a positive note for the blond. "They are badass!" She turned to Sakura, a small smile on her face. Near them, the girl from earlier chuckled, crossing her arms.

"It's amazing Naruto can keep up with Lee. Lee's been training for so long and for someone to match his level so quickly. Naruto must be a real genius!" Despite his best wishes, Lee could hear the talk while he was trying to concentrate and he felt his lip twitch. He thought about it a lot, how Naruto was almost at his level of physical prowess, after going to the gym and working out with Jiraiya for only a few months or so. Thanks to his scattered thoughts, he missed a step, and took a quick jab from Naruto in the stomach that he meant to side step.

He let out a quick exclamation of pain; despite not using his powers, Naruto's strength certainly increased, and his punches hurt a lot more than they did when he stared. Almost a half second later, Naruto used the opening to get a solid hit on Lee's face, sending him flying towards the arenas edge.

"Oh shit, Lee are you okay?" Naruto started to shout, rushing towards his friend. Even if they were sparring, he was still concerned about his friend and worried about if he seriously hurt him. Once he almost got to Lee, the boy did an almost coffee grinder, spinning on his back and jumping up, sending a spinning kick to Naruto's face, making him flip towards the arena's right side. The crowd winced slightly, Ino almost starting to yell, while Sakura watched in shock.

Naruto rose with his eyes wide, his hand covering the bruised cheek that was already starting to subtly heal. In front of him, Lee held a malicious smirk, his hand facing forward in its point once again.

"I am not yet out of the arena yet, Naruto. Be careful when you show mercy to your opponents, remember?" Naruto's shocked expression changed to one of joy, loving the fighting spirit Lee was showing. Unfortunately, Naruto misinterpreted the look in his eyes as enjoying the combat, and not one of actual jealousy or hatred.

The duo charged once more, determined looks in their eyes. Before they could clash, Sakura frowned, noticing Lee's eyes, seeing them scream something she felt a lot; she could see the gentle screams of his eyes wondering if he is not strong or good enough.

* * *

"P-p-please… I have a wife and two children! They need their father, you don't understand!" A man spit out, tears streaming down his face as he dropped to his knees, his arms clamped together in a praying fashion. "Please God just spare me and I'll do whatever you want! You can h-have all my money, it means nothing to m-me!" In front of the suited man, the man from earlier in Kiri City looked down, the giant butcher blade resting on his shoulder.

"He says it means nothing to him. That's such a lie though. Money is the way the world turns, isn't it, Mr. Takeda." The man, Haruki Takeda, started to shiver more violently, shaking his head crazily.

"No no! I mean it, I swear! You can have whatever you want, anything and I can get it there in an instant, I mean it!" He was starting to hyperventilate, refusing to look the bandaged man in his derange, red eyes. Instead, his eyes were focused on the giant blade behind him. The man chuckled slightly, turning to face the masked man next to him.

"Actually, it doesn't sound bad, does it? Anything we want?" He whistled slightly, smiling wickedly under the bandages, the man now looking up at him, his eyes and hands still pleading. "You know, I think we should take him up on that offer, don't you Haku?" Almost instantly, Haku sighed, lowering his head a little, looking towards the man.

"I apologize in advance." Haruki, raised his eyesbrows slightly, confusion on his face, but it quickly morphed into extreme pain, as the bandaged man quickly throw his hand forward, it now resting back on his shoulder, the blade having switched directions on his shoulder. In an instant, both of Mr. Takeda's praying hands fell to the floor, a gross wet glob. He screamed and fell to the floor, his cries defeaning everything, including the man's chortle and Haku's gentle voice.

"He said my name. That means you can't live. I'm sure you understand, but I do still apologize for the inconvenience." He wasn't able to hear Haku's voice, and was not able to process the descending blade either, his screams stopping suddenly with the slice of wind. With a sigh, the man placed the sword back on his shoulder, a surprisingly lack of blood on it. The same couldn't be said for his clothes, as his vest and bandages were covered in the mans blood.

"Let's go Haku. There should be a few more of these bastards in town." He started to turn and walk away, Haku bowing and following him shortly.

"Yes sir, Mr. Momochi."

* * *

With a quick kick, Naruto was sent out of the arena, groaning slightly as he remained on the floor. Despite his small healing factor, Lee did more damage then he could heal and he was rendered out of commission.

"Winner: Rock Lee!" The announcer shouted, Lee breathing heavily but a smile on his face. He was happy he was able to beat Naruto in a training battle, but the prospect of fighting him in an actual battle scared him; no matter what he did, Naruto with his powers was much stronger than Lee.

"That was intense, but congrats Lee!" Sakura started, clapping slightly as she walking over towards Lee. "You got some bad bruises, are you gonna be okay?" He gave her a small thumbs up, taking his gloves off before glancing at Naruto.

"I will be okay, but thank you for the concern, Sakura. I'm sure Naruto would need help more, and I'm not talking about because of the fight." She blinked slightly before turning to look back, the crouched for of Ino over Naruto, performing chest compressions, screaming for an ambulance. She couldn't help but chuckle at the small crush she has on Naruto getting bigger. Was funny how she went from hating him to admiring him. If only he shared the same sentiment.

"I think Naruto is in good hands, actually." She snickered slightly, placing her hands behind her back. "Say, Lee I have a question." He gave her a confused look, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "I was wondering if you had the time." She paused slightly and bit her lip, a little embarrassment on her face. Lee felt his heart start to pump faster. Was he about to be asked out by a girl? He wasn't used to this and couldn't help the faint rush of blood paint his face a nice rosy pink.

"Would you be able to train me and work with me on fighting?" He froze slightly, his heart dropping a little, but it suddenly skyrocketed upwards. Sure a date would be nice, but a girl interested in learning from him and learning to fight was even more exciting.

"Yosh! I'm so glad you would be willing to learn, Sakura! I would be more than happy to start teaching you and showing you the skills I have to offer." She let out a huge sigh of relief, a large smile arriving on her face. She was scared he was going to say no to her, mostly to work on himself, but she was utterly thrilled that he agreed.

"Thank you so much Lee! Is there a specific time you'd like me to meet here?" He pushed a finger to his chin, deep in thought.

"Well, Naruto and I meeting every weekday, but if you wanted to start slow, we can do just Sundays?" The old Sakura would have been fine just doing Sundays, but she felt a frown develop and crossed her arms.

"I can handle it. Every weekday after class? I'll be here Monday, right next to Naruto!" His smile got wider, impressed and please with the girls determination.

"Alright then, it's settled! We shall see you here after class on Monday! Make sure you are ready to work and to sweat!" He gave her another thumbs up before excusing himself to the showers. At the same moment, Naruto woke up, a teary-eyed Ino above him.

"Naruto, you're not dead!" He was shocked, wondering why the pretty girl from school was on top of him, but he couldn't lie that it made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Sakura! Why is Ino on me?" He shouted, trying to rise up, but unable to with his weakened body and the weight and pressure Ino was placing on him at the moment. "Sakura, help!" Sakura rolled her eyes playfully, walking away and leaving a screaming Naruto to his 'torture'

* * *

"Jesus." Iruka nearly gagged, looking at the brutal scene in front of him behind a random Konoha Hotel. Next to him, Anko had her arms crossed and was watching the scene with interested eyes.

"Apparently, the cleaning crew was cleaning up and throwing trash when one of the ladies found him out here. She's understandably very shaken up." It wasn't that bad in Anko's eyes, but she's also seen plenty of homicide scenes. For your first scene, a very bloody decapitation, as well as getting your hands chopped off, that… that messed some people up.

"Yeah, it's messing me up a little, honestly." Anko gave him a side glance but shrugged it off. The duo looked relatively the same, minus a few things; gone was Anko's usual playful demeanor and posture, replaced with a more serious expression. She was still fuming from the events with Shisui Uchiha, and his betrayal as Mizuki's mole. He was still locked away in prison for his involvement in the whole issue, and it bothered Anko greatly.

Unlike her, Iruka still had the same personality and quirks, his physical appearance was just different. Across his nose, he had a giant scar that went across almost his whole face. While that alone should have made him more distant or hardened, it did the opposite, as he was mostly grateful for having survived. Plus, and he refused to admit it, but the scar did attract a lot of attention and he had a good 'badass' story to tell.

"This looks like a series of murders that the Kiri Police Chief messaged us about. The Butcher, they called him." Iruka frowned slightly, turning away from the scene to look at Anko instead. Her face showed no joking at all.

"The Butcher? Rumor has it, he's like Tempest. How else is one man supposed to slice people in half?" Anko stepped forward, kneeling at the body next to a forensics reporter, who was taking photos of the body.

"Normally, I'd say it's possible for there to be maybe a crew or some trap they placed him in," with a gloved hand, she moved a wet chunk, making the photographer flinch slightly. "This cut is precise. One slick cut. Same with the hands, all from the same weapon. The tool would have to be different if it was a trap of some sort, but this certainly looks like the Butcher's MO." She rose up, strapping the glove off of her hand.

"So… Are we going to call them?" Anko knew he was referring to Tempest, as they received a number to call or text him if they needed him, but Anko had done her best to not use it ever. With Mizuki and the corrupted police officers gone, they shouldn't need him, but this seemed to go over everyone's heads. With a heavy sigh, she went for her phone and started dialing a number.

* * *

Naruto froze slightly, his phone ringing in his pocket. What mostly startled him was the fact it wasn't his phone ringing, but the second phone he kept on him. Ever since the event with Mizuki and rounding up the excess criminals, he made sure to give a number to Anko and Iruka specifically, one that they could use to call him if they ever needed his assistance.

He made sure to have Ayame go and buy one of those pay-per-month phones and made sure to always use cash, registering under an alias and all that. Despite all of this, the phone hadn't ever rang, except for the Bluetooth calls he used to communicate with Ayame on his runs.

Ignoring all the movement around him, he let out a small gulp before flipping the phone open, mustering his best deep voice.

"Hello?" The line was silent for a moment, the only audible things being the crackle of static over the line, and the busty restaurant sounds in Naruto's background. After another pause, Anko's voice rang out, a little bit of uncertainty in her voice.

"Tempest? We got something we might need help with."

* * *

 **Here's the beginning of the next arc of this story, the Wave Arc. Obviously, it's not going to go the same as canon, and this is gonna be the first major divergence in the story.**

 **I'm excited to write, but I work full time, as well as going to school full time to finish my degree. It's hard to find time to write fanfiction in between real life events, but I'm trying to do my best.**

 **Let me know what you all think so far. I'm good with criticism and would love to see what you guys think in the reviews.**

 **Until next time!**


End file.
